The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas, based on the novel by John Boyne - 9 out of 10

The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas, based on the novel by John Boyne
9 out of 10


This motion picture is an example of how different we can view art, books, films, for while some critics have been exultant, others have been just as moved, but at the other end of the scale...'an appalling, jaw dropping movie that will cause serious nightmares' Entertainment Weekly

They probably know better,but this cinephile disagrees.
This may not be Schindler's List, but it is a compelling, well acted, professionally directed feature that will stay in memory for a long time, if not forever.

It deals with the holocaust and takes a look from a different angle, building up to a cataclysmic finale.
Asa Butterfiled is wonderful, precocious in the leading role of Bruno, son of the Nazi commandant of a German concentration camp.

Although, in the first place, as they move with the fascist official to the new position he has, the family has no idea of his assignment.
It is a well keep secret, up to the point where Kurt, the driver, makes a gory, abject comment in front of Mother aka towering, majestic Vera Farmiga:

'They smell even worse when they burn'

The wife of his superior officer was perturbed by the smell coming from 'the farm' and thus the young scoundrel made a 'joke'.
The woman is horrified to find out, for she had had no idea and thought that prisoners worked in the farm.

After this revelation, she would remain hostile towards her spouse, fighting with him over this and falling into a depression, a state of mind that probably combined guilt, helplessness, shame, pity, regret and a whole panoply of negative feelings.
Nonetheless, apart from mother and grandma, there are precious few, of any dissidents, people who express any criticisms towards the fuher and his demented policies.

After the war, there has been an experiment, mentioned in the classic Influence by the genius psychologist Robert Cialdini, in which the principle of respect for authority is confirmed, in tests which supposedly use high voltage current.
On a massive scale, the German population showed a regrettable respect for authorities, that made many, probably most of them, obey the mad, mass killing leader.

Bruno finds a friend in the extermination camp, albeit they don't know what happens within.
They are both about eight and play mostly through the barbed wire.

A tragic twist of fate gives the film a poignancy, a cruel, tragic, but unforgettable climax, or better said nadir.