Review of Son of Saul (2015) by Fungusgnat — 15 Mar 2016

Nemes’s film may be the best movie you won’t like seeing this year. Nemes does keep the horrors of the camp in the background, by keeping his camera’s focus no more than a yard or so from the lens, leaving the movement of people and bodies in the blurry zone beyond the focal plane.

This not only makes the movie watchable but also avoids sensationalism and affords the victims some privacy and thus humanity. What remains visible is ghastly enough, and Nemes achieves some memorable effects, particularly in a chaotic, nearly phantasmagoric scene lit by fire.

(As I say, not an entertainment. And, like many other European films, shot and edited in a style that leaves me confused and weary.