The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

I can't speak for other people, but for me The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas is a film that can be seen once and once only because the impact is so shattering. Not even a stone statue can be not moved by this film, this child's eye view of the Holocaust.

Bruno is an 8 year old German kid whose father David Thewlis is an officer in the Wehrmacht. They're living a nice life in the beginning of World War II in metropolitan Berlin. Thewlis gets orders however shipping him to a command in a nice rural area of southern Germany, presumably Bavaria. Like any other kid he's upset at being dislocated from his friends and his school, but he certainly hasn't much to say in the matter.

So the family is uprooted to a lovely pastoral area where Dad's been put in charge of a concentration camp. Not one of the bigger ones like Auschwitz and Dachau, but a small one that his superiors expect Thewlis to run efficiently.

Young Bruno has absolutely no one to play with and he wanders over to the camp. His parents feel he's way too young to understand about these things and he makes friends with a kid on the other side of the barbed wire, a young Jewish boy named Shmuel who wears those funny striped pyjamas like everyone else in the camp.

Two things struck me about The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas. When I did a review of The Diary Of Anne Frank, the biggest impression I got out of the film was the ordinariness of that small group of Jews hidden in that attic. Who could possibly think these people were any kind of threat to civilization simply for being and believing in their faith? We get to see the other side of the looking glass here, a view of this very average German family, besides young Bruno and Thewlis, there's mother Vera Famiga and daughter Amber Beattie. Famiga is not happy one bit with her domestic situation and it's slowly dawning on her that the politics and policies of the Third Reich is the root of her concerns. As for Beattie, she's really buying into the whole Nazi thing, partly because she's going through puberty and a young and handsome aide to her father played by Rupert Friend is stirring up those first womanly feelings.

But to all intents and purposes this is your average German family, not too much different than the Frank family in that attic, but that this regime of hate has made Thewlis a death merchant.

The second thing that struck me and it's what gives hope to this crazy world is what passes between Asa Butterfield as Bruno and Jack Scanlon as Shmuel. If all we are as humans are reflections of our parents prejudices there would be absolutely no hope for mankind. But we do grow, we do question, some of us just don't accept everything that's fed to us. We don't see Shmuel's world of the camp until the very end, the boys mostly have contact with a barbed wire fence between them. But we see Bruno and his sister being now home schooled in Nazi teachings and his innocent contact with that kid on the other side of the fence makes him question what's going on.

The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas is one of the best films of 2008. You will not forget the performances of Butterfield and Scanlon and the adult cast members. The end will shatter your mind, but the film's depiction of friendship growing in the worst possible circumstances is also a message of hope.

I was so excited my theater got The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, from the moment I saw this trailer, I knew I was in for a treat. This movie just looked incredible, even though it's a touchy subject with the holocaust, it still looked like it was going to be a great story. Everyone always makes a comment about the innocence of childhood, what it was like to just not have reason, to just go with the flow of things before adults tell you what you have to do. So I watched The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas today and this movie seriously is one of the saddest films I have ever seen, but I felt it was very maturely handled. The actors are great and the story is very touching, to watch these two boys from two completely different worlds who come together just to have fun, be boys, not because of the difference of their background.

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. The boys have a great friendship talking every day, enjoying the company. But when the father gives Bruno a Nazi propaganda loving tutor, Bruno becomes confused, is his father an evil man or is his friend the evil one? Love his country and do his duty or don't judge and just stay true to his friend? Bruno must decide all this with some scary consequences ahead of him.

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is a fantastic film, though if you see it, I do recommend bringing the tissues. I couldn't believe the chemistry they had with these two young actors, they worked so well together as these innocent boys who both have no idea what's going on. Bruno doesn't know why his friend is behind fences, and his friend doesn't know why he's there either. The ending is extremely powerful and the story keeps you interested. I do recommend seeing The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, it's a treasure from 2008.

9/10

Although it starts of slow,you soon get wrapped up in the story and feel as if you are there. It's amazing to see the different points of view and the acting is so believable you feel as if it is all happening there and then. I have cried at films in the cinema before but this is the only film that has made me want to sob. When it finished and the credits started rolling, no one moved from their seats or said anything. We were all shocked, and when people did start to get up an leave the cinema, still no one said anything. It is the best film i have ever seen and recommend everyone sees it.

Sophie x x x

I'm a man's man, and it takes something really exceptional to break my emotionless machine persona. This film ripped me apart and reminded me (and my partner) of humanity inside even the most hardened man.

Perfectly weighted film in every way, from pace to acting and all framed with a wonderful score. The subtlety of the looks passing between the actors and a finale that ensured silence until the final credit rolled, makes this one of the best films i've seen in a long time.

This is the first review I have never written and i cannot think of a better way to have opened my account.

My fiancé and I purchased tickets for a special advanced screening of this movie during the Carnegie Film Festival in Dunfermline, Fife. I didn't realise, but we were one of the first people to see it. I will try and not spoil it and keep the review very simple and straight forward.

The film is mainly shot through the eyes of Bruno played by Asa Butterfield growing up in war time Germany during the holocaust. After relocating at the will of the German Army, the film then centres on the friendship between Bruno and Shmuel (Jack Scanlon). I will end it there as I don't wish to spoil the rest of the film.

Putting to one side the fact that everyone has a flawless English accent (which does make it difficult to hate them at first), the cinematics, sound, editing and above all acting are a credit to the British film industry.

Asa Butterfield is fine young actor and I'm sure will be destined for even greater things in the future.

As I mentioned above, I won't give anything away, but I will say that this is the first time I have been to the Cinema and everyone sat quiet right up until the end of the credits.

Please, please see this film. It will remain with you for a long time.