Michelle SweeneyReview - The Boy In The Striped Pajamas
March 4th 2009 15:21
The innocence of children remains - even during World War II in Germany. Bruno (Asa Butterfield) is an 8 year old boy enjoying his carefree life and his wealthy lifestyle in 1942. His father (Harry Potter's David Thewliss) just so happens to be an Army Commandant and due to his position and the recipient of a promotion, Bruno finds himself relocating to the countryside along with his parents and his sister Gretel (Amber Beattie). Unfortunately for him and his family, the countryside in question happens to be just outside the borders of Auschwitz.
Bruno is naive and innocent as an 8 year old boy should be. Unaware of the specific details of the war going on around him, his experiences as well as the information fed to him from his sister and his parents begin to make him more aware of the situation facing Germany. At his first opportunity to defend his new founded friend Shmuel, he turns his back, explaining that he acted as those around him would have done. So much for his innocence.
The Boy In The Striped Pajamas is based on John Boyne's best selling novel of the same name and for fans of the novel, this movie does not disappoint. The movie captures all of the main elements of the novel, bar one or two lesser important points, and the novel and film will not fail to capture their intended audience.
This is ultimately a story about the fragility of innocence and the strength of friendship in a very difficult time. The only thing I found unsettling throughout the film was that it took one German boy to highlight the atrocities of the death of millions of Jews during this period. Are we so sensitised to the situation that the story alone does not call upon our full sympathies?
This is a fable - as intended by the original author - and captured remarkably well by Yorkshire Director Mark Harmen (best known for the very British Little Voice and Brassed Off) which may of course explain those very British-German accents. But I for one did not find them detracting or distracting in the least - not as much as I did in Bryan Singer's recent Valkyrie starring Tom Cruise. For those viewers looking for the realistic horrors of Auschwitz and wartime Germany, I strongly encourage them to go elsewhere. An 8 year old boy only perceives what his young eyes are meant to perceive but for the purpose of the film this is horror enough.
Voyage Review: 4/5
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