79 of 83 people found the following review helpful:
An atypical Holocaust film that is engaging, thought-provoking, and heart-wrenching
2008 was a very big year for films adapted from books, with several reaching the high acclaim of Academy Award nominations. One adapted film that didn't get much recognition, however, is The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, based on the novel by John Boyne.
The film opens with the following quote emblazoned on the screen: "Childhood is measured out by sounds and...
History and Logic Thrown Out the Door
This truly, from a historical standpoint, is one of the most ridiculous movies I have ever seen. From this movie I learned the following "facts."
1. Auschwitz is apparently in Germany.
2. Auschwitz except for one barrack, didn't have very many prisoners. It also wasn't very crowded.
3. Apparently, except for one fly buzzing in the background,...
This review is from: The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (DVD)
2008 was a very big year for films adapted from books, with several reaching the high acclaim of Academy Award nominations. One adapted film that didn't get much recognition, however, is The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, based on the novel by John Boyne.
The film opens with the following quote emblazoned on the screen: "Childhood is measured out by sounds and smells and sights, before the dark hour of reason grows." As the quote suggests, this is a sort of coming of age film, and over the course of 94 minutes,those in the audience slowly watch the innocence of children unravel before their eyes as the reality of what is taking place becomes more and more illuminated.
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is the story of a family living in Berlin during World War II. The main character, an eight-year-old boy named Bruno (Asa Butterfield), spends his time in Berlin playing with his friends and reading adventure novels. His father, brilliantly played by David Thewlis (most will recognize him as Professor Lupin from the Harry Potter franchise), soon gets a promotion, however, and Bruno, his parents, and his sister move to the German countryside where his father will take up his new position. Unlike their time in Berlin, Bruno's parents are careful to keep their son close to home, and Bruno, an explorer and adventurer at heart, is confined to the small fenced area surrounding their house.
From his bedroom window, Bruno can see what he thinks is a strange farm off in the distance. He notices that the "farmers" act strangely and wear strange "pajamas" while they work. Later, he notices that the smokestacks on the farm give off an absolutely wretched stench when they are burning. By now, of course, the audience knows that what Bruno has seen is not a farm at all, and that his father's new position is Commandant of the nearby concentration camp.
The naive Bruno manages to escape from the grounds of his home and is finally free to explore the woods behind the house. Not paying much attention to where he is going, he happens upon a remote part of the camp where he meets another eight-year-old boy, Shmuel (Jack Scanlon), confined by a different kind of fence. The two become friends, and Bruno sneaks away every chance he gets to go and visit the only playmate he has found since moving away from Berlin.
This is an interesting film on many accounts, the most fascinating being the changes that each member of Bruno's family undergoes. His father, a seemingly reluctant, "political only" Nazi at the beginning, devolves into a hardened, harsh man. Bruno's sister Gretel (Amber Beattie), encouraged by a handsome lieutenant working with her father, falls victim to the Aryan propaganda so much that her room is soon filled with posters of the Fuhrer, much like young girls today would adorn their walls with images of the Jonas Brothers. Finally, there's Bruno's mother (Vera Farmiga), who is the antithesis to the growing Nazism in her family. At first she is happy for her husband and the success he has as a soldier in the German army. However, as she learns more about her husband's new charge, and the truth is revealed about the camp, she becomes bitter and angry.
And then there's Bruno. All the signs are there. Bruno comes across every hint he possibly could as to the truth behind the "farm" where his friend Shmuel lives and works. Yet he remains utterly oblivious. Caught between the two stages of "sounds and smells and sights" and "the dark hour of reason," the filmmakers show the great price of failing to deal with the world around us.
Much of the criticism that I've read regarding this film deals with the supposed overextension of innocence to both child characters. Many critics cannot grasp the idea of an eight-year-old child not understanding that the "farm" is really a horrible work camp, that the "pajamas" are prison clothes, that the mysterious disappearances that Shmuel tells of and the smoke from the chimneys are the results of the systematic slaughter of the camp's inhabitants. That may be a fair criticism, but I think it misses the greater point that the filmmakers seem to be making.
Bigger than a child's loss of innocence, Bruno seems to be a representation of Germany, perhaps even humanity, itself, and the failure to deal with the evil right before one's very eyes. So many Germans claimed the innocence that we see in Bruno, saying they had no knowledge of the Final Solution to the Jewish Problem that Hitler and his SS were carrying out across the European continent. Even today, despite all the existing evidence, there are still those that deny the Holocaust happened, not wanting to acknowledge the great evil of which humanity, perhaps even their neighbors and family members, is capable. More than anything else, this film shows the great price humanity pays for such utter naivete.
All in all, this is a very well done film. The story, though slow in the beginning, is engaging, thought-provoking, and, in the end, heart-wrenching. It is well-acted, especially in the performances of the young boys, and the bright colors and airy score provide a sort of bizarre juxtaposition to what is happening on screen.
The DVD includes the typical bonus features of deleted scenes and a feature-length commentary, as well as a featurette entitled "Friendship Beyond the Fence."
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This review is from: The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (DVD)
After I read the novel by John Boyne and heard the news that a movie adaption was currently in theatres, I was slightly scared that the film would be too extreme and dramatic for me, because I don't do well at all with films that scare me or make me sad- and thinking about the plot of the book, I knew watching a movie version would tear me to pieces.
But, as it happened, my school went on a field trip to see the movie a few weeks after I finished the book, and I ended up having to watch the whole movie through and write a report comparing and contrasting it from the novel. And guess what?- I sobbed like a baby in front of all my friends.
Although the last parts of the movie are very sad and deeply patronizing, it is overall a very good adaption of the book that caused so much controversy among young readers like me(I'm 15 by the way).
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This review is from: The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (DVD)
I know that many movie critics bombed this movie, but you really need to decide for yourself.
I thought this movie was very well made, the acting was excellent, and the story was very intriguing. I have read the book the movie is based from, and the movie follows the book very closely.
I have to say my favorite part of the movie is the music - the soundtrack is amazing! It was made by the same composer that did the soundtrack for Titanic and Braveheart, to name a few.
Be prepared for a shocking ending - some don't like it, but I did. I think it's a realistic approach to the Holocaust - not every story has a happy ending.
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This review is from: The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (DVD)
The movie's subject matter, first and foremost is very HEAVY.
The story follows a boy in a particular German military family. He is your average adventurous and innocent/ naïve eight-year-old boy. His family is a very ordinary German family, for that time, except his father had just been promoted to a high position within the military, causing the family, much to the children's chagrin, to move out to the country (discovered in the first five minutes of the film).
In this movie, you will see a wide range of acceptance and emotion for the German political agenda. You'll see the happenings of this family from the boy's perspective, including his introduction to the Jewish people.
In my opinion, this movie is very well made, intelligent, and powerful. The messages that are being conveyed are wonderful conversation pieces. It's time to expand horizons and stimulate the brain with this very strong film. Grab some family or friends, or someone from the office and see what this movie is all about.
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This review is from: The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (DVD)
"The Boy in the Striped Pajamas"
Disturbing Yet Brilliant
Amos Lassen
There seems to be a lot of films about the Holocaust coming out of late and some of them seem to be cashing in on the darkest period in the history of the world. "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" rises above them all and shows us what so many others don't. It is a shocking film--not in physical violence but in inferred inhumanity. This is a movie that will give you chills and break any emotionless person. It is as near perfect as a film can be yet it deals with a plot that is beyond logical comprehension. The film upsets and disturbs and it is hard to get out of the seat after seeing it but it also gives us a lesson of compassion and love while it slaps us across the face
When I read the book upon which the movie is based, I thought to myself that there is no way the story could be filmed. I was wrong--the film is almost identical to the book but actually seeing what I had read was more intense, even though I knew what was coming. The power of this film will affect anyone who sees it.
Asa Butterfield is Bruno, a boy growing up in war time Germany during the Holocaust and the story is told through him. He is the son of the commander of the camp which is right outside of his window. He interacts with Shmuel (Jack Scanlon), an inmate at the camp and they build a friendship even though they are separated by a fence and their lives are worlds apart.
Bruno's father (David Thewlis), a Nazi official goes to work everyday and Bruno is somewhat impressed by his father's position. When Bruno hears that they will be moving to the country so his father can have an even better job, he is somewhat upset. But he is reassured by his parents and the family arrives at a big house in the country which is a fancy farmhouse surrounded by high walls. Bruno sees the fields from his window and he notices that the farmers are all wearing striped pajamas. He is driven to find out more about them and sitting behind barbed wire, he meets a boy who is about his own age. They become "friends" and visit each other often. Neither of the boys really understands what is going on.
The movie is structured like a fable and from the very beginning it evokes strong feelings and what we really see is the powerless of childhood. Bruno is torn by what he has learned about Jews, They are supposed to be "bad" but Shmuel is good. As Bruno realizes that terrible things are happening on the "farm" that his father is the overseer. His heart begins to break.
The two boys turn in amazing performances as they navigate the gamut of emotions from wonder to betrayal to guilt and when the movie reaches its end, the finale is so shocking that everyone feels he has lost something.
The film opens with credits that are flashed against a red background and then as the camera pulls back, the Nazi flag comes into view. And then we see flags hanging from a government building and we see children playing on a beautiful spring day. Seeing the swastikas reminds us that we are in for an experience that shows man's inhumanity to man. We are somewhat dislocated when we see the contrasts that soon follow and even though we know what is coming, we are not prepared for what we see.
"The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" is not a typical Holocaust movie. There is an attractive German family and we see them living an ordinary life until...................
If you see no other movie this year, then you must see this. The script, performances, cinematography and everything else about "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" show this movie to become a classic.
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This review is from: The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (DVD)
THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS is a 'compleat' motion picture: even the title states the vision of the film in a subtly powerful way. Based on the excellent novel by John Boyne and adapted for the screen by director Mark Herman, this film has the courage to re-visit the Holocaust from the child's perspective. Not that it covers up the atrocities of that horrid event and time - quite the opposite: in electing to examine that period in history the stance is that of two children, one German son of an officer in Hitler's armed forces and one son of a Jewish captive living with his father in a concentration camp. The juxtaposition of these two eight year old boys separated not only by a fence but by an ideology neither of them can fathom the other's side makes for not only a brilliant film but also an unforgettable emotional experience.
Bruno (Asa Butterfield in an extraordinary performance) is eight, his sister Gretel (Amber Beattie) is twelve and the two live with their parents in 1940 Berlin - father (David Thewlis) is a Komandant in Hitler's army and mother (Vera Farminga) is a popular socialite and loving mother. Father is 'promoted' and will be in charge of a new 'position' that means moving from their beautiful Berlin home to a 'home in the country'. Though Bruno doesn't want to leave his friends the family does indeed move - to a cold house next to what Bruno perceives is a farm. The father is forbidden to share his role and the meaning of it with his family, but it soon becomes obvious by the smoke stacks spewing hideously smelling odors into the atmosphere that the 'farm' is a concentration camp. The house servant Pavel (David Hayman), though abused by the father, becomes Bruno's friend when Bruno sustains an injury: Pavel quietly admits to Bruno that despite his 'pajama' uniform from the 'farm' that he practiced medicine in the past. Bored, Bruno explores the forbidden area outside his home confines and finds a barbed wire electrified fence behind which sits Shmuel (Jack Scanlon) who becomes Bruno's friend. Neither lad understands the differences between them until Shmuel is sent into Bruno's household to polish glasses for a party: the armed forces chauffeur Lieutenant Kotler (Rupert Friend) beats the 'little filthy Jew' for eating pastries Bruno has shared with him - a fact that the terrified Bruno denies.
The mother discovers the truth about the 'farm' and the smoke stacks and sinks into a depression, loathing that her husband is in charge of such atrocities. Gretel becomes transformed as a Hitler youth under the influence of the children's tutor (Jim Norton) and there are obvious philosophical schisms in the family. Bruno, regretting his treatment of Shmuel, continues to sneak food to him and plans to help his young friend save Shmuel's father: Bruno digs into the 'farm' and the results bring the film to a terrifying and abrupt end.
Both young actors give enormously moving performances and the manner in which Herman directs the action underlines the blur of perception many German's had about the reality of the Final Solution. But for what this viewer perceives as the reason the film sustains the powerful message it does is the manner in which it ends. There are no attempts to 'sanitize' this film: it simply ends with a lightning bolt jolt that is one of the most powerful statements in all of the many films about the Holocaust. It is simply a brilliant masterpiece of a movie from every aspect of judging it - acting, direction, music, cinematography, editing - and why this film failed to make an impression on the critics and public (and the Oscar folks!) when it was released in the theaters remains a conundrum. Highly recommended for all audiences. Grady Harp, March 09
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This review is from: The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (DVD)
Not the movie, it is a beautiful work of gut-wrenching horror. I wept like a baby and I am a 62 year-old man. What is appalling to me is reading all of the one-star reviews. I now see how the holocaust (shoah) could have taken place, all that is necessary is for a nation to be composed of and ruled by people with no feelings, bereft of human compassion and sensitivity, just like several of the reviewers here.
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This review is from: The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (DVD)
This film probably didn't do as well at the box office because most moviegoers go for fun, not to get depressed. It's films like this that are best experienced at home. And it's a film that is an excellent jumping-off point for discussion with young (10 and above, though the two boys whom the film revolves around are only 9) children about the holocaust - which, all too often, seems to be losing its place in history.
I won't go into the detail of the plot as that is covered elsewhere on the Amazon site - and in other reviews. It is also important NOT to know how THIS story ends. (We all know how the holocaust ended.) It gives the film its impact.
In the standard "Making of" documentary (20 minutes) in the Special Features, we learn from both the Writer/Director, and the author of the book on which the film is based, that they want the film to be watched by families together and used as a discussion tool. The film is rated PG-13 "for Thematic Material involving the Holocaust". There is violence in the images of injured people (and the makeup is very graphic) but much is implied. We learn what is going on in the "work camp" by seeing fleeting images or hearing sounds.
At 94 minutes, the film is brief enough so that children will not get bored. It is NOT a film that, in my opinion, should be watched by children under 16 without a parent or other adult to answer questions they might have, or better yet, ask questions of the children to see that they understand.
Miramax made the production in partnership with BBC Films and nearly all the cast are British. (We learn in the documentary that that the woman playing the mother seems to be the sole American among the lead actors.) I did have a small problem at the beginning getting used to the British accents of all these characters who are supposed to be in Germany. (I guess I'm used to actors having German accents in films about the Holocaust.) But, after a while, I accepted it and moved on.
I have not listened to the director's commentary. And the deleted scenes included in the bonus features don't add much, but it's good they are included.
This is not a perfect film but well worth using as a teaching tool. The more that the younger generation knows about the Holocaust the better the chance that it will never be repeated.
Steve Ramm
"Anything Phonographic"
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This review is from: The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (DVD)
My sister just left a voicemail for me. She sounded very hurt and upset because I made her watch this film. She said it was very depressing. But I think she didn't understand the relevance, the beauty, the heart-sink. I don't really think I can make her see it but then this film is for people like me and no, I'm not going to go into myself.
What is absolutely remarkable about THE BOY IN STRIPED PAJAMAS is how there's no parallel monalogue of sorts. There is no sense of a common opinion being preached to you. The film very subtly gets its point across, the dialogue is apt and witty, the accent is English, the sets are wonderful, the characters all seem to leave an impression and towards the end of the film when you finally realize why the film is titled so, you will learn to appreciate it.
On some message boards, I read some backlash towards this film but I think naysayers can say what they can yet you must not ignore the particular character, central character. By the time the credits roll, you'll be too stunned to move. I hope this gets its due by the time it's out.
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This review is from: The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (DVD)
This is the saddest movie you're likely to see ever, not so much for the wrenching intimate tragedy it portrays but for the historical reality that it epitomizes. Could you possibly make sense of this film if you knew nothing at all about the mass murder of Jews in Hitler's Germany and the lands that Germany occupied? I don't think so! Fortunately, there are few people that ignorant of history alive right now, although there are a vicious few who deny it. Clearly, this is a film not just about two boys but also about the species that labels itself scientifically as Homo sapiens -- "Human knowing".
Having survived 60% of the Twentieth Century, I can testify that it was the most tragic on record. Yeah, yeah, we were born with higher life expectancies and we had shinier toys. But it was the century of mass murder, conducted by the polity that we had supposedly evolved to manage our savagery. The most extensive mass murders were generated by ideologies wrapped in racism and nationalism, and sometimes sheathed with phony science. Do I need to indict the murderers here? Nearly all of Europe, even including France, had temporary governments that helped Hitler murder Jews. Stalin's USSR murdered uncountable millions. Cambodia. Uganda. Rwanda. Chile. Argentina, El Salvador and more ... murderous governments. Those rabid denouncers of the national/federal government of the USA should take note: though racism and xenophobia and fanaticism thrived in the USA also in the 20th C, the federal government never fell into the paws of the mass murderers. In fact, though the feds were guilty of segregationist behavior and repression of some forms of thought, much more obviously the federal government took effective measures to moderate the racist behaviors of state governments and of "us the People."
What does this have to do with a movie review? Everything! Because this movie made me think of history at every frame. It also made my wife cry on my shoulder disconsolately, and it made my teenage son turn off his laptop and stop wise-cracking for the rest of the evening. If you haven't already been informed of the scenario, here it is: Bruno's father, an ambitious and convinced Nazi military officer, is appointed to command a "work camp" -- really a death camp -- in a remote rural area. He takes his family there. His 8-year-old son, Bruno, finds a way to sneak out of the safe but boring home compound. Bruno finds the fence that surrounds the imprisoned Jews and makes contact with a boy his age, in a striped uniform that Bruno takes for pajamas. Sitting on opposite sides of the barbwire, the two naive boys form a bond....
Some reviewers have objected that the boy Bruno, the central character, was implausibly naive, even for a pampered and protected eight-year-old. But the boy is something bigger than a single child; he's a synecdoche of the Germans (and Americans!) who "didn't know" and couldn't believe and perhaps couldn't care enough until it was too late. I suppose I'm taking the film as an allegory.
Bruno's father and grandfather, seemingly decent men committed to duty and patriotism, are in fact "whited sepulchers" of ideology gone mad. They are surely Goldhagen's "willing executioners." The mother and grandmother are shown to be conscience-stricken, but they too are executioners, unwilling if you want to defend them, but guilty of passivity. Once again thinking allegorically, I'm tempted to see all of Germany's postwar agony on the faces of the horrified parents.
If this movie seems more to you than an evening's vicarious 'entertainment,' I suggest that you get acquainted with the books of W. G. Sebald, especially "Austerlitz" and "The Emigrants." Sebald is postwar Germany's greatest writer and most profound analyst of guilt.
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