Back to Basics for Son of Saul
Son of Saul, László Nemes’ Golden Globe winner, is set in the horrors of Auschwitz in 1944. The movie was shot on 35mm film, which underlined its stark and understated look. To capture the emotions that underpin the movie, Nemes set about what seems today like a revolutionary analog to digital workflow: he not only shot the feature on film, but he finished and reviewed it on film, too. Son of Saul is a very raw story. The harrowing story, also nominated for best foreign language Oscar, got its subtle grading atmosphere from one of the FilmLight Baselight suites at Budapest facility Magyar Filmlabor (Hungarian Filmlab). Having achieved the visual style that Nemes and the movie’s DP Mátyás Erdély wanted in the film print, colorist László Kovács set about recreating this in Baselight.