{"id":23971,"date":"2015-05-26T16:36:20","date_gmt":"2015-05-26T22:36:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=23971"},"modified":"2015-05-26T16:36:20","modified_gmt":"2015-05-26T22:36:20","slug":"the-holocaust-film-that-is-upending-the-genre-and-other-jewish-notes-from-cannes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/the-holocaust-film-that-is-upending-the-genre-and-other-jewish-notes-from-cannes\/","title":{"rendered":"The Holocaust film that is upending the genre \u2013 and other Jewish notes from Cannes"},"content":{"rendered":"

By GABE FRIEDMAN<\/p>\n

(JTA) \u2014 Given the long and storied history of the Holocaust film genre, it\u2019s unusual for a new movie on the subject to be lauded as innovative.<\/p>\n

But the new film \u201cSon of Saul,\u201d the first by Hungarian director Laszlo Nemes, is being called just that. It also was one of the most widely talked about films at this year’s prestigious Cannes Film Festival, where it landed the Grand Prix award for second best film. (The French film “Dheepan” won the top prize, the Palme d’Or.)<\/p>\n

\u201cSon of Saul\u201d stars 48-year-old and first-time actor G\u00e9za R\u00f6hrig as a member of the Sonderkommando, or the Jewish prisoners who were forced to help the Nazis run their concentration camps. The film is shot in a gritty, cinema verit\u00e9 style that makes the viewer feel like he or she is right there, in the middle of the death camps.<\/p>\n

Vulture called it \u201ca Holocaust film like none you\u2019ve ever seen before.\u201d The Los Angeles Times said that the film \u201cturn[s] the form on its head.\u201d The Guardian wrote: \u201cIt\u2019s so frank and unflinching, it makes even the finest of previous Holocaust films look crass.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is historic praise for a rookie filmmaker.
\nThere is no official release date yet, but Sony Pictures Classics bought the film\u2019s U.S. distribution rights, so it will be coming to the States at some point.<\/p>\n

\u201cSon of Saul\u201d aside, Cannes 2015 was one of the most Jewish editions of the festival in recent memory. Other films of Jewish interest there included Natalie Portman\u2019s adaptation of Israeli novelist Amos Oz\u2019s memoir \u201cA Tale of Love and Darkness\u201d; Woody Allen\u2019s latest production, \u201cIrrational Man,\u201d starring Joaquin Phoenix and Emma Stone; \u201cAmy,\u201d the documentary on the late Jewish singer Amy Winehouse, which has impressed critics but angered her family; and the Israeli entry \u201cAfterthought.\u201d <\/p>\n

In addition, the film \u201cDegrad\u00e9,\u201d notably directed by twins Tarzan and Arab Nasser from Gaza, involves the plight of several women in a Gaza beauty salon who display more anger toward what they call the \u201cthugs\u201d of Hamas than they do for Israel.<\/p>\n

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