Making a film about the Holocaust is a rather challenging subject for any filmmaker. Making a Holocaust film to launch your career is about as courageous a feat as any. To do it with the level of craftsmanship on display in "Son of Saul" is simply something remarkable.

That is the case with director Laszlo Nemes' first film, a veritable masterpiece that immerses audiences in arguably the most horrific moment in human history. Saul is one of several Sonderkommando, forced to work disposing bodies in the gas chambers of the concentration camps. While working Saul witnesses the murder of a Jewish boy and convinced that it is his son, sets out to find a Rabbi that can perform the appropriate Jewish burial rites. Meanwhile, the other Sonderkommando are planning a revolt that Saul is entangled with.

Filmed in 4:3 aspect ratio, "Son of Saul" not only emphasizes the claustrophobic prison, but it closes off the viewer's perspective, limiting the vantage point allotted by a wider aspect ratio. This is exacerbated by Nemes and cinematographer Mátyás Erdély's decision to shoot the film from tight over-the-shoulder perspectives. The camera moves about, but usually from behind Saul, his body serving as a point of perspective, but covering so much of the frame that it continues to block the viewer from clear sightlines. There are moments where Nemes cuts to point of view shots or wider images, but they are methodically placed and intermittent throughout the narrative. One such moment is the murder of the child that Saul witnesses from a distance, a moment that first establishes a separation between Saul and the child and then eventually a link when we see his corpse close up from Saul's perspective.

The power of suggestion is abundant in this film, acting not only as a means of creating greater impact, but on some level showing respect and restraint for those who might not be able to stomach more explicit representations of the horrors. We see the men dragging corpses around the floor, but oftentimes we only see an arm, a leg or one part of the body. Sometimes we just hear the sound of the body swept across the floor. In another sequence we see the great crematorium in the distance, the flames rushing up to devour the prisoners. However, we never get too close to the image. However, having this distance does not make the representations any less powerful to witness. The sound of the bodies sweeping across the floor is horrible to endure even without actually seeing it.

Speaking of which, sound design is equally potent with whispering voices haunting Saul's journey. Oftentimes the whispering comes clearly from other characters in the room and yet there are moments where it almost sounds like ghosts continuing to haunt the space and unsettling the audience member.

Actor Geza Rohrig's face is the vessel through which we view this film, appearing in every single scene. While most of his face suggests a hardened expression, his eyes are constantly in action, looking about with fear and pain. Saul remains a mystery throughout the movie, his motives questioned at times and his interactions with other characters ambiguous and often distance. This is a tragic portrait of a man completely distraught by the world around him and yet forced to contain that pain buried deep inside. He seems to understand his fate and is doing his best to come to terms with it. In some ways, his quest to bury the boy, the symbol of innocence and purity, is Saul trying to undergo a proper burial for himself before the swift death comes for him.

Watching "Son of Saul" is a grueling experience on many levels. Through the subject matter (the Sonderkommando forced to aid in the annihilation of their own people), the style of the film and its painful plot, the film never shies away from its aims to portray the holocaust as an act of animalistic brutality and evil. Unlike other films on the subject, there is no hope at the end of the line and any glimmer of it ultimately proves false.