Film Reviews by RH

I instantly adored this film - straight away became one of my favourites - I actually watched it twice on consecutive nights!

But beware.... if you want crash bang wallop and lots of action then you're going to be dissapointed. But if you want something funny, meditative, engrossing, human, unconventional and completely beautiful, then dive in and swim in the warm wonder of this film. Jarmusch at his best.

It's good to find films that break the mold: Boyhood, Russian Ark, Satantango, for instance.

And by their very groundbreaking nature, many are astonishing in parts, but arguably unsuccessful in others.

Son of Saul falls into this category for me.

The unusual way that it is filmed (in narrow screen, but great detail and very shallow focus, following Saul during his disturbingly banal everyday tasks) is hard to adjust to at first, but then quite compelling. The way that the story is filmed in such ostensibly "normal" surroundings (concrete bunkers, yes - but also daylit woodland with birds singing and calmly flowing rivers) yet with the ferocity of the actual activities of the concentration camp as an unfocused background is very clever and quite convincing.

However, Saul's motivations for his actions (the central theme of the film) are hazy to say the least - and whilst having everything explained and conveniently put on a plate Hollywood-style is not an attractive habit in film making, having such intense and profound actions as Saul's so nebulous, unexplained and unconvincing does seem to be inappropriate: the film would have been much better if the viewer could detect at least some kind of motivation in the intensity of his efforts, even if it was just an attempt to impose some shred of artificial meaning on a world completely bereft of humanity.

Having said all of this, it was a compelling viewing experience in many ways if you like your cinema to stretch the boundaries and break away from the norm - and after all, this is what cinema at its best has always been good at: offering alternative views of reality, or capturing human experience in new and surprising ways - then you should definitely watch Son of Saul.... and then ideally discuss it at length with a valued friend over a bottle of wine - and delve deep into the elements that inspired you and the ones that dissapointed.

It would be surprising if the debate wasn't long and engrossing.