‘An orgy of antisemitism is overtaking the west’: Son of Saul’s László Nemes on Hollywood hypocrisy

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His extraordinary Auschwitz film won every award going. Now the Hungarian director is back with new drama Orphan, as well as a Jean Moulin biopic at Cannes. He talks about resurgent global prejudice – and refusing to be lectured by the film industry ‘overclass’ We’ve been talking for less than five minutes when I spot the swastika. It’s just above the head of László Nemes, one of Europe’s most acclaimed directors, as he sits in the suite of a London hotel, talking about Orphan, his intensely personal new film that dwells on – among other things – the impact of the Holocaust on the generations that followed. It’s an ancient, Hindu swastika, part of a decorative wall-hanging – but still. I’m halfway through a question when I notice it. Nemes laughs; of course, he’d seen it immediately. “I wanted to point that out to you,” he says. “It is so funny. Before leaving this room, I will take pictures.” Mind you, he’s had worse. “When I was at the San Sebastián film festival with Son of Saul , t...
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Small Slow But Steady review meditative boxing tale as deaf fighter rethinks life

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Film follows Keiko, deaf since birth, making her way in the ring when Covid-19 lockdown arrives in Japan and she must deal with confidence issues

The title is presumably meant to refer to the film’s fine-boned heroine Keiko Ogawa (Yukino Kishii), a scrappy boxer who has just turned professional, but it just as aptly describes the film itself: a delicate, atmospheric study that’s quite unlike most other fight movies. Based on a memoir by boxer Keiko Ogasawara, this very internal story unfolds during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, with a locked-down Japan adding a further layer of isolation to Keiko’s life. Thanks to Kishii’s luminous performance, Keiko comes across as a very self-sufficient but lonely figure, completely deaf since birth, who finds in fighting some kind of release and sensory thrill, even though her lack of hearing creates very specific challenges in the ring given she can’t hear shouted instructions from her coaches or even the bell.

Keiko’s family – mum (Hiroko Nakajima) and brother Seiji (Himi Satô), with whom she communicates mostly via sign – are supportive but don’t really get the sport’s appeal, and that sort of goes for the co-workers at her day job as a hotel housekeeper. The only person who really gets her is the “chairman” (Tomokazu Miura) of the gym where she trains; he is a man now not in the best of health, considering closing up shop as his other regular trainees gradually jump ship, some grumbling that Keiko is the one who gets all the attention now.

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