A contender at this year's Cannes festival, "Son of Saul", is a "different" kind of Holocaust movie, homing in on one man's ordeal over two days rather than the full scope of the tragedy, says its Hungarian director Laszlo Nemes.
The 38-year-old's first-ever feature film will make its world premiere in the Palme d'Or competition at the French festival, which runs between May 13 and 24.
"We use a 'less is more' approach; we are in the shoes of one man over a short traumatic period," says Budapest-born Nemes, who lived in Paris between the ages of 12 and 26.
The movie tells the story of two days in 1944 in a German concentration camp where Saul, a Hungarian Jew forced to burn corpses in a crematorium, believes he has discovered his son amid the bodies, and endeavours to give him a proper burial.
Nemes -- who used to work as an assistant to acclaimed Hungarian director Bela Tarr -- has already released three short films, which have won over 30 prizes at international festivals.
Avoiding stereotypes
He says he wanted to do something "visually different" with the Holocaust.
"It has been treated so many times, often with stereotypes, and as much emotion or drama packed in as possible," he told AFP.
"But in a sense, the killings went on in silence, the harshness was often subdued," he says.
Nemes cites as influences World War II films like "The Pawnbroker" (1964) by Sidney Lumet, and "Come and See" (1985), Elem Klimov's film about a boy witnessing carnage on the eastern front in the Soviet Union.
Claude Lanzmann's "Shoah" was also a key reference source which "fuelled the emotional background" for the movie.
Shot and projected on 35-millimetre film -- "it offers a more immersed and emotional viewer experience," Nemes explains -- "Son of Saul" took more than five years to make after the director tried, in vain, to attract funding from outside Hungary.
"Most of the time the decision-makers considered it too risky a theme for a first feature director and had doubts about the feasibility of the project," he explains.
In the end, the film cost 1.5 million euros ($1.65 million) and was made entirely in Hungary.
The multilingual cast is made up of lesser-known actors such as New York-based Hungarian underground artist Geza Roehrig who plays the main character.
Languages spoken in the film include Hungarian, German, Polish, and Yiddish.
"It was important to try to reproduce the 'Babel' of Auschwitz," says Nemes.
Hungary's trauma 'not dealt with'
Around 600,000 Hungarian Jews perished in World War II, almost all after Nazi Germany invaded Hungary in March 1944.
Commemorations last year of the 70th anniversary of the mass deportations to Nazi death camps were plagued by bitter rows over the extent of Hungarian complicity in their organisation.
"There is an underlying trauma here, you can feel that the killing of over half a million Hungarians 70 years ago is something that hasn't been dealt with," Nemes says.
"Hungary, and indeed central Europe, has a long way to go until it can turn from that disturbing past to the future and maybe construct something more full of hope," he says.
AFP
Fri May 08 2015
![Hungary's Cannes debutant casts 'different' eye on Holocaust Hungary's Cannes debutant casts 'different' eye on Holocaust](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/http://img.astroawani.com/2015-05/51431060548_295x200.jpg)
The movie tells the story of two days in a German concentration camp where Saul, a Hungarian Jew forced to burn corpses in a crematorium, believes he has discovered his son amid the bodies, and endeavours to give him a proper burial. - AFP Photo
![Golongan belia pemacu penting bentuk masa depan industri pembuatan Malaysia - FMM Golongan belia pemacu penting bentuk masa depan industri pembuatan Malaysia - FMM](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-05/41715247870_SohThianLaijpg.jpg)
Golongan belia pemacu penting bentuk masa depan industri pembuatan Malaysia - FMM
Pemimpin perniagaan dan usahawan daripada golongan belia merupakan pemacu penting yang akan membentuk masa depan industri pembuatan Malaysia, kata Presiden Persekutuan Pekilang-Pekilang Malaysia.
AWANI Tonight: 16 July 2024
#AWANITonight with @Hafiz_Marzukhi
1. Govt mulls amending Penal Code to deal with cyberbullying
2. England's Southgate resigns after Euro 2024 Final defeat
#AWANIEnglish #AWANINews
1. Govt mulls amending Penal Code to deal with cyberbullying
2. England's Southgate resigns after Euro 2024 Final defeat
#AWANIEnglish #AWANINews
![Empat individu termasuk pasangan pempengaruh bebas tahanan reman Empat individu termasuk pasangan pempengaruh bebas tahanan reman](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-05/41716613114_TBsprm.jpg)
Empat individu termasuk pasangan pempengaruh bebas tahanan reman
Kesemua individu juga perlu hadir ke pejabat Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) sebulan sekali untuk melaporkan diri.
![KPT alu-alukan syor PAC guna garis panduan pelaburan universiti awam untuk anak syarikat KPT alu-alukan syor PAC guna garis panduan pelaburan universiti awam untuk anak syarikat](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-07/81719822088_ZambryAbdKadir.jpg)
KPT alu-alukan syor PAC guna garis panduan pelaburan universiti awam untuk anak syarikat
KPT mengalu-alukan cadangan PAC berhubung pelaksanaan dan pemakaian Garis Panduan Pelaburan dan Pembiayaan oleh Universiti Awam 2024, kepada anak-anak syarikat di bawah seliaan kementerian itu.
![SUKMA 2024: Sepak takraw wanita mungkin digugurkan SUKMA 2024: Sepak takraw wanita mungkin digugurkan](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-07/61720679430_AbdulKarimRahman.jpg)
SUKMA 2024: Sepak takraw wanita mungkin digugurkan
Sepak takraw wanita berpasukan berkemungkinan akan digugurkan daripada senarai acara temasya Sukan Malaysia (SUKMA) 2024 berikutan jumlah penyertaan kurang daripada jumlah minimum yang ditetapkan.
10 Berita Pilihan - (16 Julai 2024)
Antara pelbagai berita dalam dan luar negara yang disiarkan di Astro AWANI, berikut adalah yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari ini.
![Enam rakyat Vietnam ditemukan maut di sebuah hotel di Bangkok Enam rakyat Vietnam ditemukan maut di sebuah hotel di Bangkok](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2023-12/41702437730_maut.jpg)
Enam rakyat Vietnam ditemukan maut di sebuah hotel di Bangkok
Enam orang ditemukan maut di sebuah hotel di Bangkok, Thailand pada Selasa laporan media tempatan yang memetik polis Bangkok.
AWANI 7:45 [16/07/2024] - Suspek dibawa ke lokasi | Selamat tinggal rakyat Malaysia | Harimau Malaya hilang taring?
- Polis sahkan suspek bunuh Kartini anggota polis.
- Pan-Gon enggan dedah punca letak jawatan.
- Faisal Halim sedih mentor Pan-Gon undur diri.
- Pakai reben putih di Parlimen, tak salah.
- Pan-Gon enggan dedah punca letak jawatan.
- Faisal Halim sedih mentor Pan-Gon undur diri.
- Pakai reben putih di Parlimen, tak salah.
![Isteri calon gandingan Trump letak jawatan di firma guaman Isteri calon gandingan Trump letak jawatan di firma guaman](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-07/41721139141_TBJDUSHA.jpg)
Isteri calon gandingan Trump letak jawatan di firma guaman
Usha Vance, isteri kepada Senator J.D. Vance yang dipilih sebagai calon gandingan bekas presiden Amerika Syarikat (AS) Donald Trump awal minggu ini, telah meletakkan jawatannya di sebuah firma guaman,
![Najib fail permohonan di mahkamah rayuan cabar Titah Adendum Najib fail permohonan di mahkamah rayuan cabar Titah Adendum](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2023-05/71683779541_TBNAJIBRAZAK.jpg)
Najib fail permohonan di mahkamah rayuan cabar Titah Adendum
Berdasarkan sistem e-filing mahkamah, rayuan itu telah ditetapkan untuk pengurusan kes pada 7 Oktober ini.