The way in which a movie is shot can do a lot to set the tone. Wes Anderson played with the formatting in Grand Budapest Hotel, which all represented different eras. Director Xavier Dolan wanted to show the emotional state of the main character in Mommy by using a 4:3 format and only once using widescreen in order to show the feeling of liberation. Son of Saul, which is set during the second world war inside a concentration camp, immediately chooses its tone from the start. With a claustrophobic 4:3 format and only having the focus close to the camera, making everything far away blurry, you are glued to the main character, Saul Ausländer (Géza Röhrig). Continue reading →