Film No. 12 (2016) Son of Saul February 15th.

Film No. 12 (2016) February 15th.  6.30 PM LUNA Paradiso, Northbridge. 

"This film will shock you, make no mistake so be warned" (A critic's tweet on exiting Son of Saul while attending an international film festival in 2015).

 

 

So what of the slaves co-opted by the Nazis to do all their dirty work amidst the hell which was the death camps of German occupied Europe? What of those slaves? Watch Son of Saul then report back to me what you think it might have taken to be one of those slaves. Take the time out to suffer like Saul suffered! 

 

Well that's got that out of my system. Sorry about that, it's just there was real anger within me after experiencing life with Saul Auslander for that short period. I was either looking into his tortured face or over his shoulder as he endeavoured to survive in a hell we'd soon be hoping might be a dream sequence. Unfortunately it was not, first time Hungarian director Laszlo Nemes gives us a perspective of war that won't be forgotten in a hurry but it quite obviously comes from his Hungarian heart. Hungarians, especially the Jews were pilloried by the Nazis late in WWII, Saul is the face of those unlucky enough to be born in this dreadful era.

 

Ten minutes into Saul I was unnerved and giddy. My immediate thought was, do I need this tonight? A film about one man's intimate experience at Auschwitz working for the Nazis to carry out the atrocities so graphically documented was never going to be easy. Soon Nemes had me riveted to his tale, fortunately he saves us the graphic view of what Saul was experiencing via diffused focus and extreme close-ups of Saul but we still fully understand the meaning of each heart wrenching action. We also experience this through the excruciating soundtrack of death. It is all so obvious what is happening but it is the minor details we are left to image that horrify us.

 

The stress suffered by Saul throughout this journey is excruciating but an incident where a young boy dies in front of his eyes gives him hope and a will to cling to his own life. It becomes an important distraction for Saul. His quest becomes to bury the boy following strict Jewish tradition but this will be difficult with the threat of death hanging over him at every turn. 

 

The anger I expressed in my opening paragraph has abated, I understand now why films like this need to be made; it is so that we might remember those who truly suffered. The Academy will recognise this film in a weeks time, I feel sure. 10GUMS.