Diagonaldi Very well executed

Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

Hadrina The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Neive Bellamy Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

plpregent Son of Saul blew me away in so many respects. This is quite an unusual film in so many ways, from the direction to the unique and successful way it delivers emotions. It tells a simple story, but anyone will realize how powerful it is by simply reading the synopsis.The one thing that first struck me about this film is Géza Röhrig 's performance as Saul. Given that this story unfolds in Auschwitz and all the horrors that are being depicted, emotions are delivered in quite a subtle manner, on one hand picturing the main character as a man carrying heavy emotional baggage, and on the other showing some surprising inner strength, fostered by his newfound quest of morally surviving by burying the body of a dead boy. László Nemes' direction is quite unique, as it consists of pretty close shots of the protagonist with everything surrounding him out of focus, leaving some of the horrors to the imagination at times, and creating a tense, hellish atmosphere in other scenes - always maintaining this emotional intimacy between the audience and Saul. Had Röhrig not been as stellar as he was, this could have been quite heavy - and borderline unwatchable. Honestly, this was quite a gamble - but the audacity paid off.You will not hear any music throughout the entire film. Again, I felt like it added to the subtlety in the delivery of emotions, as it never dictates how the viewer should feel - leaving Saul as the only true vehicle of emotion. Instead, with everything but the protagonist out of focus, the sound (which is very well executed) complements the blurry background and brings it to life in all its chaos, tension and horror. You don't always clearly see what is happening around Saul, but you certainly hear and feel it with him.The ending alone makes it worth watching the entire film. It is brilliant and it brought me to tears - not because it's sad, but because I was brought there emotionally through this entire experience, which culminates with a truly moving and beautiful moment. Very highly recommended.

jmvscotland I won't spend too much time on this review other than to say that, with an IMDb rating of 7.5, I expected a much better movie.I quite understand why the director invested so much time and effort in trying to engage the viewer in the main character's view of the atrocity that must have been life in one of the Germans' extermination camps during WWII. The message was conveyed loud and clear that survival for Saul and those like him was a minute by minute matter. Alive this minute and with a bullet in the brain the next if he even looked at one of the SS Officers or guards.Having said that I understand the reasons for trying to engage the audience by use of very unusual cinematography, I must say that I found the idea of looking at the back of Saul's head for almost the entire length of the movie, with everything else around him being thrown out of focus was, after about ten minutes, not only distracting but also extremely annoying. Of course there's a morbid fascination even these days at what the Nazis did during WWII, and it is true that we've seen similar movies made many times over the years. But rarely has a movie on this subject been so annoying and ultimately unsatisfying.I wanted to like this movie "Son Of Saul" but I just couldn't forgive it the infuriating lack of focus on the events that were going on around Saul, rather than on the back of his head and its small and insignificant place in the camp.JMV

spaf-787-833583 Never reviewed a film before , don't care about my spelling don't care about the ,s and the .s , just watched the film and felt the need to write something . Rated the film 6 , wanted to give it 7 or 8 for the first 30 minutes of the film , but slowly started to get annoyed. Hate the Jewish propaganda of religious importance . F.ck the religion , not only Jewish but Christian , Muslim and all the rest. Hated the importance of a religious tradition to bury a body of a boy , over the importance to save lives. Don't make a film about the few that chose to obey , the few that chose their life over hundreds of others !!!!!!!!!!! .F.ck this film and its maker . Make a film about the people that were brave enough to give their lives to safe others , others lives not just bodies because of their religious believes !!! . Started writing this with a rate of 6 for this film , finished with a rate of 4 . I understand that this is factual , and probably needs to be said and past on . First review that i find when i google this film is ' an outstanding, excoriating look at evil in Auschwitz ... This astonishing debut film, about a prisoner in the concentration camp employed in the industrial processes of body disposal, is a horror movie of extraordinary focus and courage' , my opinion , detailed look at the ill and bent by religion mind that's at the end of it sanity . Chooses the burial of a body over the lives of fellow living people. Courage ???!?!?!? Wheres the f.c king courage ? , insanity all the way !!! . During WW2 courage meant death !! and the word courage should be reserved for the people that lost their lives saving others or trying to end the tragedy of ww2 and the German invasion. The so called courage of Saul caused more death . People around tried to survive , realising that there is no mother f ucking GOD !!!! and even if there is one , hes a f cking pr.ck , allowing this to happen . He was so courageous , that he didn't risk his life for his sons life but he risked his life and lives of others for his sons body . Film about surrender , the less we get of this sort the better we will be . Thank You

Carlos Solis Vega As the title says, do not fall for the apparently high rating of this movie.I'm sorry to say it but this movie is boring from the beginning to the end, and I'm not talking about art or cinema techniques or whatever, I am just giving my opinion on what the movie meant for me.The story makes no sense at all since the task Saul is performing doesn't correspond to the human nature. Who in a similar situation would prevail the correct disposal of a dead body over his/her own survival? Nobody, that is simple.Another kind of "annoying" detail is the visual perspective of the movie, it is uncomfortable to follow the story in that way because almost everything (except the main character) is out of focus.I wouldn't recommend to watch it.