Synopsis
Set in 1944 Auschwitz, 'Son of Saul' follows Hungarian-Jewish prisoner Saul Ausländer, a Sonderkommando forced to dispose of bodies in the gas chambers. When he discovers the corpse of a boy he believes to be his son, he embarks on a desperate and dangerous mission to find a rabbi and give the child a proper Jewish burial. Directed by László Nemes, the film uses an intimate, claustrophobic camera style to place viewers hauntingly close to the horrors of the Holocaust.
Why Watch It
László Nemes constructs a relentless, unflinching descent into Auschwitz told through fragmented close-ups and muffled sound design that forces you into unbearable proximity with horror. Géza Röhrig's performance as a man clinging to humanity through ritual becomes the film's moral anchor, transforming a single act of burial into an assertion of dignity against systematic dehumanization. Brutally formal and emotionally devastating, it stands as one of cinema's most challenging and necessary examinations of the Holocaust.
Did You Know?
- It was director László Nemes's feature film debut.
- Shot almost entirely in close-up on 35mm film.
- Won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
- The entire film takes place over two days.
- Géza Röhrig, the lead, is a poet, not actor.
Iconic Quotes
- We've already lost our souls, don't lose your life too.
- You want to bury a son you never had.
- Give the living a chance, not the dead.
- We are the sons of Saul. We must remember.
- There is nothing left to save here.
