THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS
5 out of 5 stars

this was probably one of the best holocaust movies I’ve seen since spielberg’s schindler’s list and roman polanski’s the pianist… i say this because not only did it make me bawl my face off (don’t judge…i’m a real sensitive person!), but it gives you a different perspective of how a child would have viewed the holocaust. and…not just any child. a german child…



bruno is our 8 year old protagonist, where he and his sister are forced to move with their parents to the countryside. that’s because daddy just got a promotion in the ranks of nazi germany, as we realize that he’s a commandant in hitler’s jew-hating army. bruno is forced to leave his friends behind, and soon finds himself miserable living in an isolating environment. (he tries to make the best of it by making a tire swing in the yard— beats imaginary friends, right?) he soon goes “exploring” through the back forest, and comes across a boy, his age, sitting all alone by the electric fence…in striped pajamas. this intrigues little bruno, as he begins to ask his mother and father why those people at the “farm” are in striped pajamas and why there is a weird stench in the air. he also doesn’t understand why his friend schmuel is considered the “enemy”… (thank you, german propaganda)


i think what makes it even more interesting is that bruno’s mother seemed to be just as innocent as he was. when one of the commandant’s subordinates remarks that the jews smell worse dead than alive, she is taken-aback with horror. then, when the commandant tries to justify that this is a part of war, she completely breaks down… (pivotal and electrifying performance by vera famiga) the little boy who plays bruno is really cute and thoughtful, but I thought schmuel was cuter… (and my heart broke into a million little pieces when he got a black eye for “stealing food” from one of the asshole nazi soldiers) one of the best scenes in the entire film is when bruno and schmuel are simply talking to each other. it’s nothing complicated, but two little boys conversing with one another, in a time where one is condemned to die and the other to live in hitler’s ideal world. here’s a little taste:


bruno: why do you wear pajamas all day?


schmuel: the soldiers. they took all of our clothes away.


bruno: my dad’s a soldier, but not the sort that would take people’s clothes away.


:)