Young Bruno lives a wealthy lifestyle in Pre-war Germany along with his mother, elder sister, and army Commandant father. The family re-locate to the countryside where his father is assigned to commandeer a prison camp. A few days later, Bruno befriends another youth, strangely dressed in striped pyjamas, named Shmuel who lives behind an electrified fence. Bruno will soon find out that he is not permitted to befriend his new friend as he is a Jew, and that the neighboring yard is actually a prison camp for Jews awaiting extermination.
Genre(s): Drama, Thriller, War
Runtime: 94 minutes
Rating: 7.8/10 (13,901 votes)
Release Date: 28 August 2008
Country: UK, USA
Languages: English
Company: BBC Films
Sound: DTS, Dolby Digital, SDDS
MPAA: Rated PG-13 for some mature thematic material involving the Holocaust.
Director(s): Mark Herman
Producer(s):
Rosie Alison – co-producer
Mark Herman – executive producer
David Heyman – producer
Christine Langan – executive producer
Mary Richards – line producer
Writer(s):
John Boyne – novel
Mark Herman – screenplay
Cast:
Asa Butterfield – Bruno
Zac Mattoon O'Brien – Leon
Domonkos Németh – Martin
Henry Kingsmill – Karl
Vera Farmiga – Mother
Cara Horgan – Maria
Zsuzsa Holl – Berlin Cook
Amber Beattie – Gretel
László Áron – Lars
David Thewlis – Father
Music: James Horner
Tagline: A timeless story of innocence lost and humanity found.
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In viewing this excellent film, I was reminded of the televisionmini-series, "The Holocaust" because of the similarities of theparents. The mother again is an ambitious person who is annoyed thatJews are working in the house and the father is a silently ruthlesscharacter, totally caught up in the mayhem of Hitler'sGermany.Ambitious, he is promoted and will be the good German incarrying out the execution of the millions of innocents.
The child, by his eyes, is immediately depicted as a young innocent,full of life as he and his pals meander through the streets of Berlin.
For sure, there was no exit for the victims in striped pajamas.
I saw this film at home shortly after completing the book, so obviouslythe plot and minor details were all still fresh in my mind. And I haveto say that while I did find the film very moving, there were a fewglaring things I noticed that didn't seem to match with the book. I'lljust get those out of the way first; 1) The characters look quitedifferent to how I pictured them. Bruno in particular looks like amini-Hitler, with the perfect haircut and big blue eyes which hedoesn't seem to blink. I expected his father to have a big curlymoustache, not that that matters!
2) The friendship between Brunoand Shmuel didn't interest me in the film as it had done in the book.Bruno actually regards Shmuel with disdain at first, and doesn't seemto like his name much. 3) Smhuel actually looks about the same size asBruno, and a lot of the people in the camp at the end look ratherwell-fed. I found I was able to watch them without feeling toodistressed, as they didn't look particularly unhealthy – just dirty andforlorn. 4) The meeting point for the two boys was set in a forest, andnot too far away from Bruno's house. It is a walk of a couple of milesin the book, and I expected it to be more open, barren. Shmuel isactually within sight of the soldiers and fellow camp mates, and yetthey happily play Chess and throw balls to one another over the fence.5) Bruno not only already has a pair of striped pyjamas, but he alsodoesn't shave his hair! And he takes his cap off before entering thegas chamber, yet no-one notices him!
However, these points aside, there were some excellent parts which I -well, not enjoyed, but was deeply moved by. 1) When Kotler lost histemper with Pavel, the looks on the faces of the children really brokemy heart. I couldn't believe the father was sitting there eatingcalmly, while his family were almost in tears! 2) The mother gave anoutstanding performance – I could really feel her distress whensearching for Bruno, and when Kotler accidentally revealed the sourceof the 'awful smell', I joined her in horrified shock, she conveyed heremotion so well. 3) Aside from his Nazi-ish looks (and the rather shakystart to the friendship), I thought Bruno did a wonderful job too. Atthe end, as he was comforting Smhuel in the 'shower', I was willingthem to escape, to survive – and of course his childish innocence waswell delivered. 4) Gretel did a good job of playing the bratty butthere-when-you-need-her sister, and the scene with her sitting in bedwith Bruno as their parents argued was very moving. 5) Of course, thefinal, dramatic scene with the gas chamber – all the banging and panic,and then just silence. Words can't describe how incredible that scenewas. It was just so awful… All in all, if I hadn't read the bookpreviously, I would've given this about a 9, but there were just a fewparts here and there that I was uncomfortable with. The cast deliveredexcellent performances however, and I would definitely watch thisagain.
Horrible fate of the European Jews during the Second World War was asubject of many movies. The unique horror of their plight, breaks ourhearts and eternally stays in our memories as a warning for the days tocome. Director Mark Herman has an original approach to this tragedy.The genocide and atrocities seen through eyes of a child, the son ofthe commander of the camp. There are no blood and acts of unspeakablecruelty on the screen. Nevertheless, we are horrified, feeling in ourbones the ensuing tragic end.The " New York Times" film critic seemstook a personal affront that movie is devoid of blood, feces andsweat.In my opinion, the images that are in our minds, far outweigh thegraphics.
I saw the description of this movie and was very intrigued. WWII can bea very difficult and uncomfortable subject in just about every way.
My fiancé and I decided to order this movie one night despite theobviously devastating subject of the movie and my raging pregnancyhormones. This film is fantastic. Of course it is terribly sad… butit tells a personal story of this awful part of history in such aninnocent light. Pure genius. I think this movie would break down theemotional barriers of a brick wall.
Once again, a fantastic movie… but be prepared with a box of tissues(even if you are a man's man and never cry during movies).
I'm trying to avoid spoilers here but am not sure if I can give myopinion on this movie without giving away a little more than I'mcomfortable with.
Keeping the end of the movie out of it for the time being, I found thestory told in this movie to be a bit of a different perspective thanmost.
It was centered on quite a normal family. The dad, personally, wasquite pleasant, likable guy and appeared to have a very goodrelationship with his family. A supportive guy with a sucky job. As themovie progressed he lost some of his appeal and became not quite aslikable but I feel it was believable that this was due to the stress ofhis job and escalating estrangement from his family.
Watching how the sister had no problem being brainwashed to the causegave me a bit of a better understanding of how so many could be swayedto support the Nazi cause believing they were really in the right.
Now to my reaction of the ending …… after sitting in stunnedsilence when it was all over, I proceeded to throw up! I can't even saywhether with the ending as it was I can overall say I enjoyed the movieor not – I am still absolutely reeling! Is it the type of ending thatprovokes deep emotions – definitely. Is it the type of ending that willstick with you for a long long time – for sure. Do I wish it endeddifferently – absolutely. I don't think I could honestly say whether Iliked the ending without stewing on it for a couple weeks.
Definitely worth the watch!
This is the 'so-sad', so impossible to believe tale of a family livingnext door to a Concentration camp during World War 2. & of the strangefriendship of two 8 year old boys, one the Commandants son & the othera sad eyed Jewish boy.
In the late 1930's & early 1940's Hollywood made many films about NaziGermany & Concentration camps, at that time we did not know of theextent of what was going on, SO the studios made propaganda films suchas.THE MORTAL STORM, SO ENDS OUR NIGHT,ESCAPE & WATCH ON THE RHINE(just to name 4) (these are all very good movies), they were pureHollywood fiction made on studio or back lot sets.They and all theothers were more believable than this travesty.
I did not believe that any of them were German,I saw English actorsplaying Germans etc. The 2 known stars, usually give top notchperformances.
David Thewlis as the commandant is not the least bit effective. VeraFarmiga as his wife is equally ineffective. The two boys played by AsaButterfield & Jack Scanlon are cute, but seem more like todays 8 year'olds'. The only believable role was old time actor Richard Johnson asGrandpa,he at least knew how to do his character.
Mark Herman wrote the screenplay taken from a novel by John Byrne, healso directed this mess.
The movie was made in Hungary,There was nothing believable about thisfilm in any department.
The ending is supposed to be tragic & sad, if so, how come I was justhappy that this bore of a film was over with
Ratings: * (out of 4) 25 points(out of 100) IMDb 1 (out of 4)
I rated this a 7 because I'm a movie snob… very picky about films.The final scene is pretty powerful but everything leading up to it wasnot. They should have built up the friendship between the two boysmore.
Anyway, back to the main topic of this post: Why do all the charactershave English accents if this movie is supposed to take place inGermany? This probably shouldn't have bothered me as much as it did,but it took away from the authenticity of the film. I found myselfasking this question throughout the movie. Ideally, I feel it should bein German, with English subtitles.
Similar movies that I enjoyed were 'Swing Kids', 'The Counterfeiters',and of course 'Schindler's List'.
This movie is something of a pancake; it has two sides.
One side is the excellent technicals; no one will argue that any of theactors turned in superb performances, or that the costumers, editors orcameramen produced anything less than excellence.
On the other side, it's one of the first movies to show what it waslike to live in the Third Reich, to constantly look over one's shoulder– "der Deutsche Blick" – to see who might be listening. The kids, freeor slave, all do it, but so do the adults, even those who seem to be inmost power. The film reverberates across many of the questions oursocieties are facing today. Watching it doesn't end with the credits;it goes on in questions raised in the mind of the viewer. The bestfilms write in mental prequels and sequels and off-camera scenes."Pajamas" produces whole scripts in the mind.
Within the film is another film: a re-created version of an originalcamp film, made by the Nazis to prove how well their prisoners weretreated. It's silly and amateurish, like most propaganda, but it seemsvery much a reflection of the American Happy Darky tradition: filmsthat portray black people as happy with their lot, either as slaves oras second-class citizens. The American versions were much more polishedand ingrained in the society. One of John Ford's early films, "JudgePriest," offers such an ex-slave, portrayed by the legendary blackactor Stepin Fetchi (Lincoln Theodore Monroe Andrew Perry)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stepin_Fetchit).
It was as though the Nazis had attempted to import the slave America ofthe 1840's into a modern country a century later. The scenes where theex-doctor shivers before his new masters calls to mind the terrifyingperformances of Fetchit, whose shambling, cringing slave was a ghastlyindictment of the society that had put black people into the positionof being forced to cower simply to survive.
The German family mirrors almost exactly descriptions of slave-owningAmericans. Slaves are to be invisible, and can be beaten or even killedwith impunity, while some family members act as though nothing ishappening, others are aghast, and children look to the adults forguidance. The mother's (Vera Farmiga) reaction echo incidents in theAmerican south, as described in diaries and letters, when a woman froma non-slave area married into a family in a slave state. The mother'sis the sudden shock of a civilized German when faced with a growingslave culture as a part of her country's military. It's one thing tohear about things that seem to be an accepted part of the culture orthe public good, even angrily or fearfully warning children to avoid agroup of people, such as gypsies or AIDS victims – it's another to seethese actions in their naked brutality. Torture was "necessary" for thesafety of the country until the videos and photographs hit theinternet.
The Lieutenant's fury at the slave is portrayed as re-directed rage andan attempt to demonstrate his own part as a complete member of hissociety. The film is not clear about the point, never making clearwhether or not he is afraid of being punished for his father's actionsunder the all-encompassing Sippschaftsgericht (blood-relation laws), orif it was his own Jewish blood he was attempting to distance himselffrom. The happy-families propaganda film was made for internalconsumption, to demonstrate to Germans who were half or part Jewishwhile being legally Aryan – to the point of serving in the army – thattheir imprisoned relatives were being treated humanely. Up to the pointthe camps became death camps, these legal Germans were allowed to visittheir relatives. The Lieutenant's fury could mis-directed self defense,of himself, and even of his mother, who, it is hinted, has committedthe sin of breeding with a man of Jewish blood. Did he hint at theburning bodies to the film's mother to distance himself from his Jewishbackground – or unconsciously to open her eyes? Or even to gain anemotional ally? Might his posting to the eastern front come as arelief? Again, this reflects John Ford's used of mixed blood in hismovies. In "Judge Priest" a foolish, mean-spirited suitor is what inthe America south would be considered black, because of his smallproportion of black blood. The "misceginated" were adjudged schemingand troublesome, unlike blacks, who were expected to be simpler andtamer. The word was used for the same purpose in "Oh, Brother, WhereArt Thou." By the time Ford made "Sergeant Rutledge" – startling forits attempt at its time to portray black men as differentiated humanbeings – the virginal, murdered rape victim is a very light-skinnedblack girl, sending out further resonances in a film about whathappened to a black man if he was suspected of "white woman business."That her officer father owned a plantation before the war raises morequestions.
The child actors in "Pajamas" are focused, intent, naive, but notsaccharine. Both of them express snotty fun of each other's names. Bothof them betray each other when faced with a ranting adult,demonstrating how all little children must beware of fearsome giants intheir lives. In the additional actor interviews on the DVD, JackScanlon (Schmul) says that when the actor playing the Lieutenant – whohad not raised his voice in rehearsals — yelled in his face, he didn'texpect it, and felt real fear. Starling or angering another actor toproduce a genuine emotional affect goes back to the hand-cranked days.Hitchcock was notorious for using abusing actors to get a rawperformance.
This film was fantastic. Even though everyone knows the history of theHolocaust, this film is sure to make people think. The whole time, Iwas reminded that people actually felt that way about other humanbeings; that they would treat them like animals and even call themthat. It is not a movie you can watch over and over, but it certainlyis one everyone should see. The ending, while awful, was also perfect.There is no other way it could have ended. When I saw this film, Iwasn't quite prepared for it. My friend and I were bored one night anddecided to borrow a movie. I sat up late that night thinking about thehuman race and wondering if there is hope for us.
There is a guarantee with this film that anyone who watches The Boy InThe Striped Pyjamas will be greatly moved. I went to see this movie onmy own, and I know for a fact that I was not the only one who sat therein silence minutes after the credits had finished rolling. This film isincredibly moving and will touch the hearts of even the coldest.
The mother's emotions throughout the film grasp what many people feltthroughout the times of the Holocaust, and made the most heart-racingmoments even more intense. I will never forget her screaming in anguishfor the loss of her son through the most touching consequences, and itwill be an image that will remain with me for a long long time.
There are no words to describe how how felt after watching this film. Idid not cry, but I remember that night I continued to think and reflectupon this film for hours. I was completely unprepared before I watchedthis film and I was left speechless.