Review: Boy in the Striped Pajamas is sad and poignant
November 21st, 2008 at 8:36 am by Laff at the Movies under Entertainment
Boy in the Striped Pajamas is sad and poignant – through its tragic innocence – it really is the saddest movie of the year.
Anytime you see a period-piece set during the time of the Holocaust… you know it will be sad and depressing, but Boy in the Striped Pajamas is played with a sensitive hand that finds humanity in such an inhumane place.
“Boy in the Striped Pajamas”
(2008) (rated:PG-13 for some mature thematic material involving the Holocaust) (1 hr, 33 min)
Starring: Asa Butterfield, Vera Farmiga, David Thewlis, Jack Scanlon, Cara Horgan, Amber Beattie,
Rupert Friend, David Hayman
Director: Mark Herman
Genre: Drama/Historical-Period Piece
The Plot: Set during World War II, a story seen through the innocent eyes of Bruno, the eight-year-old son of the commandant at a concentration camp, whose forbidden friendship with a Jewish boy on the other side of the camp fence has startling and unexpected consequences.
MY TAKE (beware of spoilers): This is a sad movie, there’s really no way to make a movie set in the time of the Holocaust and make it relevant without being sad, but this movie really tries to focuses on one particular part of that tragic time in our world history. While we are not shown all the atrocities, the movie hints at them throughout.
What we see of the world during the time of the Holocaust is a naive view through 8 year old Bruno’s wide blue eyes, everything is revealed from his sheltered point of view. Bruno’s father is an officer in the Nazi Army, and as typical of boys, we see him playing in the opening scene where we get our first hint of his naivete as Bruno and his friends are playing like they are fighter pilots, flying through the neighborhood – from the opulence of the Germans in one neighborhood, to the Jews being rounded up by the Nazis in another neighborhood.
