Son of Saul

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Son of Saul (Saul fia) is a 2015 Hungarian historical drama film directed by László Nemes and co-written by Nemes and Clara Royer.

Saul Ausländer (Géza Röhrig) is a Hungarian member of the Sonderkommando, a group of Jewish prisoners isolated from the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp and forced to assist the Nazis in large-scale extermination. In October 1944, Saul witnesses the death of a boy he takes for his son. As the Sonderkomando plans a rebellion, Saul decides to do the impossible: get a rabbi and bury the body.

The film has been praised for its intense, yet subtle take on the Holocaust, and averting the typical treatment for a film of its genre. It won the Grand Prix at Cannes, the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film and the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Tropes used in Son of Saul include:

• All for Nothing: The rabbi Saul gets is not a rabbi.
  • Ultimately, the Sonderkommando revolt.
• Artistic License History: The Sonderkommando uprising, and by extension the whole film happened on an autumn. The director knew this, but he had to shoot the film in the summer.
• Artistic License Religion: Intended. According to the director, Saul is "not a religious person, and actually makes mistakes about what it means to bury in the Jewish way. You don't need a rabbi, you need ten people saying the Kaddish, so he never gets that right."
• Black and Gray Morality
• Book Ends The film begins and ends with a shot of an open field behind a forest.
• Chekhov's Gunman: Ella.
• Concentration Camp
• Double Entendre: An officer, upon seeing Saul soon after meeting Ella, says something to the effect of "Didn't take you long, huh?" We know what really happened.
• Downer Ending/Kill'Em All: Everyone in Saul's group is gunned down by Nazis.
• Dramatization
• During the War
• Every Man Has His Price: The kapo really like jewellery.
• Foreshadowing: Many people in Saul's group lament their imminent death.
  • A kapo gets an important order: list 70 people for "cleansing."
  • Some of the men suspect that the rabbi Saul brought with him is a fake.
• Great Escape
• It Got Worse: The Sonderkommando's fate.
• Little Hero, Big Holocaust
• No Pronunciation Guide: Saul pronounces his name "Shaul," unlike how most people would say the name.
• The Hero Dies
• Hope Spot: When Saul and his group are escaping their camp, they cross an open field in the forest. The (fake) rabbi, when ordered by Saul to recite the Kaddish, doesn't do a thing. But then he starts reciting a fragment of the prayer... and stops. He doesn't know the words, and Saul is visibly disappointed. The non-rabbi then starts to dig a grave for the boy, and Saul goes along.
• MacGuffin: The young corpse, Ella's powder.
  • MacGuffin Escort Mission: Saul and his "son"'s corpse.
  • MacGuffin Title
• Meaningful Name: "Saul" is a well-known biblical name, while "Ausländer" is a Jewish name similar to the name of acclaimed Israeli historian and Third Reich expert Saul Friedländer. "Ausländer" is also a common word in the German language and means "foreigner".
• The Oner: Many scenes in the film, but most notably the first one where Saul and his group escort Jews for transport.
• Pinball Protagonist: Saul just wants to bury his "son", Holocaust be damned.
• Plot Armor: Saul gets himself on dangerous situations many times.
• Running Gag: One member of the Sonderkommandos really wants gold for himself.
• Signature Style: Shot entirely with a 40mm lens, which creates a very shallow depth of field, and almost always focused on Saul.
• Silence Is Golden: The film has very little music, aside from some subtle history-accurate tracks playing in the background.
• Take That: (In-Universe) At one point, a nazi physician insults Saul by performing a Jewish dance and singing a traditional song with sarcasm, brutalizing him in the process. Other physicians are cheering along.
• Two Lines, No Waiting: Saul attempting to bury his son, and the Sonderkommando planning their uprising.
• Unresolved Sexual Tension: It turns out Ella knew Saul before the war.
• When He Smiles: The last scene of the film, where a boy discovers the group's hideout in the forest, is the only time Saul smiles.
• You Have Failed Me...: Downplayed. Saul, upset that a Greek rabbi won't help him bury "his son," causes an event that leads to the Greek guy's execution.