The Boy In the Striped Pajamas (Miramax Films)
Too Intense For Children
Although The Boy In the Striped Pajamas is based on a novel aimed at young adults it is much too intense for most children and early teens. It is a holocaust story told from the perspective of an eight year old boy and has a tragic ending which though believable is harrowing to watch.
Bruno (Asa Butterfield) is the eight year old son of a German soldier. He lives in Munich with his parents and sister. One day his parents tell him that they are moving to the country where his father (David Thewlis) has a new job. Unknown to Bruno he has become the Commandant of a Concentration Camp.
When they arrive Bruno spies the Camp from his window and thinks it is a farm. He wonders why the farmers all wear pajamas. His mother (Vera Farmiga) is horrified that Bruno has seen the Camp and forbids him from going to the rear grounds of their home. Bruno obeys at first and then becomes bored with his life. This leads him to disobey his mother and head for the farm.
There he finds a barbed wire fence and on the other side a boy his same age. His name is Shmuel (Jack Scanlon) and he and Bruno become friends. Shmuel tells Bruno that he is a Jew. Bruno has heard about Jews but does not buy into the hatred his father and others preach.
Eventually this friendship between the two boys leads to tragedy. No violence is shown on screen but the implication of what is happening is horrific to the extreme. For this reason small children should not be exposed to the film.
The film is rated PG-13 for violence and intensity.
All of the actors in this movie are good with Farmiga and Butterfield being the best. Farmiga lets the reality of what her characters husband is slowly creep over her face and into her eyes. Butterfield creates a boy of such innocence that his introduction to the atrocities of the war is painful to see.
The Boy In the Striped Pajamas is a good movie with a strong message, but it is difficult to watch and the horror of the film stays with you long after the movie has ended. This is probably just what director Mark Herman intended.
I scored The Boy In the Striped Pajamas an imprisoned 7 out of 10.
