BY DOUG OSWALD
“The
Boy in the Striped Pajamas†isn’t a horror movie in the traditional sense, but
does depict a real life monster masquerading as a soldier, husband and father.
Told from eight-year-old Bruno’s point-of-view, the story takes place in Nazi Germany
during WWII and is a deeply moving portrayal of the horror of the Holocaust.
The movie opens with Bruno playing with his friends and returning home to learn
his family is moving. His father, a high ranking officer with the Nazi SS, has
been given orders for a new assignment far away from their home in the city.
Relocated
to a home in the country located next to what Bruno believes is a farm, he wants
to find a friend, but is told to not venture beyond the locked garden gate. For
most boys that’s just a challenge and he finds a way beyond the garden. After
walking through the woods, he meets a boy names Shmuel who wears striped
pajamas and lives at “the farm†located just beyond the barbed wire electrified
fence. They shake hands through the fence and become best friends and meet there
daily.
Bruno’s
new house has a different type of staff. They’re dressed and behave differently
than the staff at the old house. Bruno talks to an old man working in the
kitchen, but he’s told not to engage him. Bruno’s mother is uncomfortable with
their move, her husband’s work and the new staff. Father is busy and his older
sister becomes infatuated with a young SS officer as well as indoctrinated into
the German Nazi cause. Bruno’s sister posts magazine and newspaper clippings
about Nazis on the wall near her bed like they were movie stars.
One
of the most moving and fascinating scenes in the movie happens as Bruno is
watching a Nazi propaganda movie made about the death camp which he thinks is a
type of farm. While the camp is never directly identified in the movie, it is a
fictionalized version of the notorious Auschwitz death camp. The propaganda
video depicts a happy existence for the Jews on “the farm†as they stop at the
café for coffee, participate in sporting events and go about their work singing
and happy. The movie within the movie was recreated by the filmmakers and is
based on actual Nazi propaganda created during this period. Bruno embraces his
father, convinced he is making a good life for the those living on “the farm.â€
The
movie is brutal at times and the brutality at the house comes at the hands of
the young SS officer. The man working in the kitchen is terribly mistreated and
suddenly disappears. Bruno’s friend, Shmuel, appears in the house to help set
up a party. After eating some food given to him by Bruno, Shmuel is caught
eating the food by the young SS officer. Bruno denies giving Shmuel the food
and Shmuel is taken away. We see the beating Shmuel received after he and Bruno
meet at the fence days later. Bruno apologizes and they dig a hole under the
fence so they can play together. Shmuel tells Bruno that his father has
disappeared. Bruno offers to help search for Shmuel’s father on “the farm†and
the next day Shmuel brings and extra set of striped pajamas for Bruno to wear.
Their search leads to the devastating conclusion of “The Boy in the Striped
Pajamas.â€
The
movie is a believable and outstanding depiction of the innocence of childhood
in the midst of real life horror. Bruno is brilliantly played by Asa Butterfield in one of the most believable kid roles
in any movie. Following this movie he gave equally good performances as the
title characters in Martin Scorsese’s “Hugo†and in the sci-fi drama “Ender’s
Game.â€
Bruno’s
mother and father are known to the viewer as “mother†and “father.†David
Thewlis is convincing and understated as Bruno’s father. He runs an
extermination camp by day and comes home for dinner with his family. Monsters
don’t get any more real than that. I loved Thewlis’ performance in this movie,
playing an almost dual role as father and mass murderer trying to keep his
family together. He’s also one of the best character actors working in movies
today. Vera Farmiga plays Bruno’s mother, a woman who comes to realize she is
married to a monster, but who also is trying to pretend they are a normal
family. Farmiga is very good here and currently plays another mother in the hit
TV series “Bates Motel,†where she plays Norma Bates, the queen mother of monster
mothers. Jack Scanlon plays Shmuel, the boy in the striped pajamas. Or, maybe
both Shmuel and Bruno are the title character because in the end they both wear
striped pajamas and share the same fate. All of Shmuel’s scenes are with Bruno
and the two boys connect on screen in believable and poignant performances. The
scenes with the boys are difficult to watch and filled with sadness because we
know that Shmuel is living in a sort of Hell on Earth. The two young actors
carry their scenes beautifully.
“The
Boy in the Striped Pajamas†was released to theaters in the fall of 2008 and is
based on the 2006 book by Jon Boyne who co-wrote the screenplay with director
Mark Herman. Herman directed two of the best comedy-dramas of the 1990s,
“Brassed Off†and “Little Voice.†The Miramax Blu-ray contains an insightful audio commentary
with Herman and Boyne, deleted scenes with optional commentary by the director
and a featurette about the production with interviews of the cast and crew. The
location shots, period costumes and performances are done with great care and
attention to detail. The movie is worthy viewing during this 70th anniversary
of the end of World War II.
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