Moviola > Films > The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (12A)   94 mins

"A timeless story of innocence lost and humanity found."

Adapted from John Boyne's best-selling novel, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is a fictional story told through the eyes of an eight-year-old boy largely shielded from the reality of World War 2.  This unforgettable tale follows a forbidden friendship that forms between Bruno, the son of a Nazi commandant, and Shmuel, a Jewish boy held captive in a concentration camp.  Though the two are separated physically by a barbed wire fence, their friendship grows and their lives become inextricably entwined.  Starring David Thewlis and Rupert Friend, with Asa Butterfield as Bruno and Jack Scanlon as Shmuel.

"The Boy in the Striped Pajamas tells its simple story with directness, concision and insightful detail. A family finds itself living with

blackest evil, and yet this evil manifests in a strangely insidious and quotidian way: the officer's promotion; the wife's household help, consisting of Jewish prisoners; a teenage girl's crush, taking the form of a handsome young Nazi butcher. The little boy watches and takes it all in."  San Francisco Chronicle 

"Yes, the actors speak with crisp British accents, which I think is actually more effective than having them speaking with German accents, or in subtitles. It dramatizes the way the German professional class internalized Hitler's rule and treated it as business as usual. Charts, graphs, titles, positions, uniforms, promotions, performance evaluations."   Roger Ebert

"The acting is strong, especially that of the young duo of Asa Butterfield and Jack Scanlon. The two inhabit their roles well, allowing us to accept an improbable relationship that is grounded on both sides by feelings of loneliness and isolation."  James Berardinelli

www.thefilmfactory.co.uk/boy/

Last modified: 11-Aug-2009

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