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Son of Saul

Original title: Saul fia
  • 2015
  • R
  • 1h 47m
IMDb RATING
7.4/10
50K
YOUR RATING
Son of Saul (2015)
In the horror of 1944 Auschwitz, a prisoner forced to burn the corpses of his own people finds moral survival upon trying to salvage from the flames the body of a boy he takes for his son.
Play trailer1:45
4 Videos
99+ Photos
DramaWar

A Jewish-Hungarian concentration camp prisoner sets out to give a child he mistook for his son a proper burial.A Jewish-Hungarian concentration camp prisoner sets out to give a child he mistook for his son a proper burial.A Jewish-Hungarian concentration camp prisoner sets out to give a child he mistook for his son a proper burial.

  • Director
    • László Nemes
  • Writers
    • László Nemes
    • Clara Royer
  • Stars
    • Géza Röhrig
    • Levente Molnár
    • Urs Rechn
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    7.4/10
    50K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • László Nemes
    • Writers
      • László Nemes
      • Clara Royer
    • Stars
      • Géza Röhrig
      • Levente Molnár
      • Urs Rechn
    • 156User reviews
    • 339Critic reviews
    • 91Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Won 1 Oscar
      • 66 wins & 62 nominations total

    Videos4

    Trailer #2
    Trailer 1:45
    Watch Trailer #2
    Official Trailer
    Trailer 1:49
    Watch Official Trailer
    Son Of Saul
    Clip 1:32
    Watch Son Of Saul
    Son Of Saul
    Clip 0:47
    Watch Son Of Saul

    Photos188

    Géza Röhrig and Amitai Kedar in Son of Saul (2015)
    Géza Röhrig in Son of Saul (2015)
    László Nemes in Son of Saul (2015)
    László Nemes in Son of Saul (2015)
    László Nemes and Tom Bernard at an event for Son of Saul (2015)
    László Nemes at an event for Son of Saul (2015)
    László Nemes and Géza Röhrig at an event for Son of Saul (2015)
    Mátyás Erdély, Gábor Sipos, and Géza Röhrig at an event for Son of Saul (2015)
    Urs Rechn, Todd Charmont, László Nemes, Géza Röhrig, and Clara Royer at an event for Son of Saul (2015)
    Levente Molnár at an event for Son of Saul (2015)
    Géza Röhrig at an event for Son of Saul (2015)
    Urs Rechn and Géza Röhrig at an event for Son of Saul (2015)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Géza Röhrig
    Géza Röhrig
    • Saul Ausländer
    Levente Molnár
    Levente Molnár
    • Abraham Warszawski
    Urs Rechn
    Urs Rechn
    • Oberkapo Biederman
    Todd Charmont
    • Bearded Prisoner
    Jerzy Walczak
    • Rabbi Frankel
    Gergö Farkas
    • Saul's Son
    Balázs Farkas
    • Saul's Son
    Sándor Zsótér
    Sándor Zsótér
    • Dr. Miklos Nyiszli
    Marcin Czarnik
    Marcin Czarnik
    • Feigenbaum
    Levente Orbán
    • Russian Prisoner
    Kamil Dobrowolski
    • Mietek
    Uwe Lauer
    Uwe Lauer
    • Oberscharführer Voss
    Christian Harting
    Christian Harting
    • Oberscharführer Busch
    Attila Fritz
    • Yankl (Young Prisoner)
    Mihály Kormos
    Mihály Kormos
    • Schlojme
    Márton Ágh
    • Apikoyres (Greek Rabbi)
    Amitai Kedar
    Amitai Kedar
    • Hirsch (Gold Collector)
    István Pion
    • Katz
    • Director
      • László Nemes
    • Writers
      • László Nemes
      • Clara Royer
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      During the preparation, director László Nemes, cinematographer Mátyás Erdély and production designer László Rajk made a pledge to stick to certain rules, or a "dogma", which included:
      • The film cannot look beautiful.
      • The film cannot look appealing.
      • We cannot make a horror film.
      • Staying with Saul means not going beyond his own field of vision, hearing, or presence.
      • The camera is his companion, it stays with him throughout this hell.
    • Goofs
      The short text at the beginning says, that the members of the 'Sonderkommando' were killed after 3 months, but this is a simplification of the more complicated history. While it's correct that these men were supposed to be killed and replaced after a few months, in some cases they were killed much earlier and in other rare cases they could survive for over 2 years, like Filip Müller. This depended mostly on the skills of the individual 'Sonderkommando' slave worker, who was sometimes needed by the SS to train the new 'Sonderkommando' members, but also on pure coincidence and luck.
    • Quotes

      Abraham Warszawski: You failed the living for the dead.

      Saul Ausländer: We are dead already.

    • Connections
      Featured in 73rd Golden Globe Awards (2016)
    • Soundtracks
      Dream Faces
      Written by William Marshall Hutchison

      Performed by Elizabeth Spencer

    User reviews156

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    8/10
    Outstanding film about concentration camps and the terrifying assignment carried out by a SonderKommando
    Impressive movie about concentration camp with realist setting , top-notch acting and evocative cinematography in 35 mm . The film was met with wide critical acclaim after its world premiere and has subsequently been submitted as Hungary's official entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards . This excellent movie deals with the horror of 1944 in Auschwitz , the infamous extermination center , capturing an insightful portrait of hell and the spiritual experience and focusing the story of a man wanting to bury his assumed son . Thus , when the incoming transports , mostly Jews , SS soldiers made instant decisions , those who were fit to labors were sent into the camp , others including the children , were dispatched immediately to the gas chambers where approximately one-quarter million Jews were executed . There a prisoner , a ¨Sonderkommando¨ is forced to burn the corpses of his own people , then he finds moral survival upon attempting to save from the flames the body of a boy he takes for his son , and he subsequently looks for a Jewish Rabí . At the end takes place a rebellion and a breathtaking , exciting getaway .

    This terrible picture is well set in Auschwitz , it was a painful extermination camp of killing of Jews including children . We see horrors , murders , massacres against the prisoners but from a particular sight point , the starring : Geza Rohrig , who gives a very good acting with his subjective vision . Along with Geza , there appears a lot of fine but unknown Hungarian actors such as Levente Monar, Urs Rechn, Tood Charmont, Sándor Zsotér, Marcin Czarnik, and Jerzy Walczak , all of them display magnificent performances ; including their realistic mélange of Hungarian, German and Yiddish dialogue . Atmospheric cinematography by Mátyás Erdély , the outside scenes were shot only with natural light , it is fully aware of the quality of light , relying on natural light for outdoors . This Hungarian Cannes prize-winner that won a Golden Globe in the "Best Foreign Language Film" category in 2016 and critically heralded Holocaust film began what is likely to be a multi-month run , calibrated in hopes of winning the Foreign Language Academy Award as well as to maximize grossing potent . It is a dark and serious flick , a splendid movie about the brutal existence at concentration camp and subsequent breakout from horrible place . The picture is based on real events , as Auschwitz along with Sobibór , Chelmno , Belzec and Treblinka were five large death camps in the Lublin district of Poland transformed into extermination centers to implement the policy of genocide thought at the Wannsee Conference . All the concentration camps were under the command of SS Odilo Globocnick . There was some minor industrial activity linked to the war effort but the main work was the execution of inmates . Victims were brought to the camp in unventilated transports , and all but a handful were gassed after arrival , the gas chambers could accommodate hundred prisoners at one time , most of their corpses were burned in open pits .

    Filmmaker Laszlo Nemes , his debut feature , avoids both , melodrama and violence , giving a thought-provoking as well as intense description about the hard existence in Auschwitz . Director László Nemes stated on cinematic inspirations : ¨Come and see¨ (1985) by Elem Klimov was a great source of inspiration for me ; however the film bears remarkable resemblance to ¨The grey zone¨ (201) by Tim Blake Nelson . Nemes took testimony from present witnesses , he made a real investigation labour and had particular help of prestigious historians as Gideon Grief , Philippe Mesnard and Zoltan Vagi . Nemes wanted to convey something that goes against the perception through films, that it is a mixture of organisation and chaos . Lazsló called Nobel prize-winning Hungarian writer and concentration camp survivor Imre Kertész an inspiration to make this film . He took records from known documentary ¨Shoa¨ by Claudie Lanzmann , especially the actual testimony from Abraham Bomba , as well as of the ¨Memorial of Shoa¨ , with a book titled ¨Voices under the ashes¨ also titled ¨The writings of Auschwitz¨ .
    helpful•15
    10
    • ma-cortes
    • Jan 24, 2016

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • June 11, 2015 (Hungary)
    • Country of origin
      • Hungary
    • Official sites
      • Official Facebook
      • Official site (Spain)
    • Languages
      • Hungarian
      • Yiddish
      • German
      • Russian
      • Polish
      • French
      • Greek
      • Slovak
      • Hebrew
    • Also known as
      • El hijo de Saúl
    • Filming locations
      • Mafilm, Budapest, Hungary(Studio)
    • Production companies
      • Laokoon Filmgroup
      • Hungarian National Film Fund
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • €1,500,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $1,777,043
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $37,930
      • Dec 20, 2015
    • Gross worldwide
      • $6,659,121
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 47 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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