The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

directed by Mark Herman
Category: "Drama"
Year of Release:2008
Date Added:06/17/2009
Date Watched:06/17/2009
Description:Bruno is an eight-year-old German boy who moves with his family to the country during WWII because his father got a promotion. What Bruno doesn't understand is that his father is now the commandant of Auschwitz. He wants to know why all the people at the neighboring farm wear striped pajamas, and one day he sneaks away to find out. He meets an eight-year-old Jewish boy, Schmuel, who lives on the other side of the barbed-wire fence. The two become friends. Bruno's mother (Vera Farmiga) knows there's a camp next door, but when she discovers that her husband is responsible for putting Jews in the gas chamber, she insists on taking Bruno and his sister away. Bruno makes one last visit to see Schmuel, and when the Jewish boy tells Bruno that his father has disappeared, Bruno tunnels into the camp to help Schmuel look for him. He gets caught in the next round-up and taken to the gas chamber. His parents realize too late what has happened when they find his clothes by the hole under the fence.
My Rating:8

Reviews for The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

Review - Boy in the Striped Pajamas, The

Wow. It's hard to know what to think about this movie. The innocence and tragedy of Bruno, the helplessness of Schmuel and the willing blindness of the German people are all played out to full effect. While I couldn't help thinking that the friendship between a German boy and a camp prisoner was unlikely to have happened for several reasons, it works in the context of this story. I expected the movie to end with Bruno realizing what was about to happen to his friend and screaming in horror, but I never expected Bruno to end up in the champer himself. Wow.

Reviewed by Roger on 2009-06-17 20:16:19

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