Mark Herman’s “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas,” made in 2008 and following realistic events from the holocaust. It’s a movie that will never fail to make my eyes tear up.
The film follows a young 8-year-old Bruno in WWII whose father has recently gotten a promotion in his job as a soldier, causing them to move to the countryside miles from a concentration camp. With no other young boys around, Bruno decides to sneak out and explore behind his house. He then finds another 8-year-old boy, Shmuel, behind an electric fence. The boys become quick friends even though it is forbidden. The poor boys are so young and unaware of the true nature they are dealing with.
Though the movie is very sad, there are still so many wonderful things about it. Personally one of my favorite characters is Pavel, played by David Hayman. Pavel is a Jewish man who was occasionally brought to Bruno’s household to serve the family. He is such a caring character who is kind and giving to anyone. The dinner scene breaks my heart more and more each time I watch it.
Another scene that sticks with me is when Bruno lies to a soldier in the household about Shmuel stealing some food. Though this scene is very sad it just shows the audience how well Asa Butterfield (Bruno) and Jack Scanlon (Shmuel) can really act. The whole movie is very well put together and is portrayed perfectly by all characters. The ending is absolutely tragic, but it definitely helps to get the point across that if it was anyone else, how hard it would be for the families. Once the film is over it leaves all viewers sitting back to think about what really happened at this time, how many people died from it, and how terrible it was.
The MPAA rating of this movie is PG-13. I definitely agree with this because it is a very serious topic that most young kids aren’t able to be introduced to yet. This is a great movie for people to learn more about the importance of this event and how it affected everyone. If I were to rate it, I would give it a 4.5/5 stars because it really is a great movie, it’s just very sad.
