Bruno is a 9-year-old boy growing up during World War II in Berlin with his loving mother and father He lives in a huge house with his parents, his twelve-year-old sister Gretel and maid servants called Maria, Lars, and the 'Cook'. His father is a high-ranking SS officer who, after a visit from Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun, is promoted to Commandant, and to Bruno's dismay the family has to move away to a place called Auschwitz. Bruno is very homesick after leaving behind his grandparents and his three best friends, Karl, Daniel, and Martin. At his new house, he doesn't have anyone to play with, the house has only three floors, and there are no good banisters to slide down. There are soldiers coming and going all the time, and all of the workers wear the same striped pajamas and have bald heads. Bruno's sister has changed from a sweet young girl into a strong Nazi. When Bruno asks his father who these people were, his father tells him that they are not real people at all; they are Jews. Bruno does not subscribe to that sort of belief and still prefers adventure books to history books. Bruno is not allowed to explore the grounds behind or around the house. One day he decides to explore and meets a young boy his age on the other side of the fence. He is a Jewish boy and his name is Shmuel. His family was taken and sent to Auschwitz. Soon Bruno and Schmuel are best friends and meet almost every day. Bruno brings sandwiched to him because he is hungry. They share the same birthday, although their life circumstances are considerably different. Bruno's mother persuades his father to take them back to Berlin after a year at their new home, while the father stays at Auschwitz. The story ends with Bruno about to go back to Berlin with his mother and sister on the orders of his father. As a final adventure, he agrees to dress in a set of striped pyjamas and go in under the fence to help Shmuel find his father, who went missing in the camp. The boys are unable to find him. Then the boys are mixed up in a group of people going on a march. Neither boy knows where this march will lead. However, they are soon crowded into a gas chamber, which Bruno assumes is a place to keep them dry from the rain until it stops. The author leaves the story with Bruno pondering, yet unafraid, in the dark holding hands with Shmuel: "...Despite the chaos that followed, Bruno found that he was still holding Shmuel's hand in his own and nothing in the world would have persuaded him to let go."Read full review
Features Actors:Asa Butterfield,David Thewlis,Vera Farmiga,Jack Scanlon Running Time:94 Min. Rating:PG-13 Written, directed and adapted by Mark Herman from the children's bestseller by Irish novelist John Boyne, The Boy In The Striped Pajamas is told through the eyes of Bruno (Asa Butterfield). He's the eight year old son of a Nazi commander (David Thewlis) who is uprooted from his Berlin home and relocated with his family to a villa in the countryside where Dad oversees a nearby concentration camp. While his father is sworn to secrecy about not revealing the nature of his job there, Mom (Vera Farmiga) is increasingly aware of the horrors surrounding them, but pretends not to notice. Bruno, on the other hand is full of questions, and his immense curiosity along with his loneliness, isolation and boredom leads him to wander off on an adventure to locate the source of that black, horrid smelling smoke-filled sky. Not to mention his perplexed notions about all those peculiar adults around him, including why the people over at what is described to him as a farm, wear pajamas all day, while a reviled Jew who toils as a servant in their home, says he's a doctor but would rather peel potatoes. And though forbidden to venture outside the home, Bruno sneaks off to the farm, where he discovers a ragged boy his own age named Shmuel (Jack Scanlon), who also wears those strange, identical striped pajamas. And certain that Shmuel must be having much more fun on the other side of that barbed wire fence than he, Bruno fetches cakes smuggled from his kitchen for the famished lad, so that he may have an alluring pair of those pajamas too. And perhaps even join Schmuel on the other side, where the grass must surely be greener. Unforgetable movie.Hope this helps you decide.Thanks for reading! :)Read full review
This puts a different twist on Holocaust movies. It's about a young boy whose SS father takes over as commander of a death camp. Taken out of school and relocated to a villa at the death camp, the boy has no friends or playmates. Against his parents orders, he sneeks back to the fence at the "work camp", and befriends a young Jewish boy imprisoned there. From there we get to an ending befitting the finest Twilight zone episodes! It's not a fast paced movie, but it is engaging and well acted.
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Not a true story but an emotional 😭 tale with good acting. Vera Farmiga, Norman Bates (mum) of the Bates Motel fame, Godzilla films, THE CONJURING TRILOGY makes any film better. Though this is not a real incident it was a good story when the tables get turned on the Nazis commander.
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If this movie does not touch your heart, then you are untouchable..It is a presentation of childhood innocence, and a friendship formed by two boys in a divided world. It is a deeply moving story, one that will remain in my mind and heart for a long time. the story of a German general's curious son,making friends with a boy his own age,through a barbedwire fence, at a Jewish prison camp..but even barber-wire and different clothes doesn't stop their lives from becoming entwined, and a discovery of the anguish that life can hold even for children who just want to be friends. There is a lesson to learn, and you will know this lesson in your heart when the movie ends. I am a Christian, and my precious doctor is Jewish, but our hearts don't know there is a difference. I recommend this movie highly ,baby-dollRead full review
The only thing in the world I can not fathom is how a regime so evil could concoct such a heinous crime upon a race of people such as was never known as the Jewish people of Germany and surrounding countries. I really don't feel the need to give you a history lesson at the moment, however, our illustrious director Mark Herman of this film has gone overboard to tell this story through the eyes of innocence and that's all it takes to make you want hurl upon the facts. Young Bruno (Asa Butterfield) lives a sheltered and rich lifestyle in prewar Germany along with his mother Elsa (Vera Farmiga), elder sister, and SS Commandant father (David Thewlis). The family relocates to the countryside where his father is assigned to take command a prison camp. A few days later, Bruno befriends another youth, strangely dressed in striped pajamas, 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. Although the concentration camp where the movie is set is never actually mentioned by name throughout the movie, we know it is Auschwitz because it was the only Nazi death camp with 4 crematoria. The SS officers are discussing the building's construction in the Commandant's office when Bruno's mother interrupts the meeting. In the book it is referred to as "Out-With" (coming from the P.O.V. of Bruno, who is only nine years old and can't pronounce some words properly). he film was handled fantastically and I believe that the feel of the novel was not lost in the translation to screen. Seeing the film was a lot more intense than reading the book and, even knowing what was coming, I found myself tearful toward and utterly shocked toward the end. Most who viewed the film with me felt similarly and remained silent and still for hours after viewing. David Thewlis has a extremely strong presence on film and has much to offer us here. Although we happen to know that his role in this film is perhaps not totally ingenious, we have to remember that his character happens to only be at the hands of many who believe in the Fatherland. Without his so-called Hitler, we have to assume that he has nothing, since his entire career depends upon the social welfare of the Fatherland to make his way. If we studied historically the thoughts and minds of the Third Reich, we have to assume that most German soldiers never really knew what was to be asked of them until it was way to late. Vera Farmiga, the Schmuel's mother is shown wearing her wedding band on her right hand. For Germany, this is correct and an excellent accurate detail. In regards to shooting the final scene, director Mark Herman remarked "It was a nightmare on many levels. He refers to the fact that he had more lawyers than film-makers. He had all of the legalities of kids in amongst grown-up naked people." Children like Schmuel, under 16, wasn't probably spared the gas chamber, unless they were a twin or were needed for sadistic experiments, usually upon disembarking the cattle car, all women and children were separated for immediate gassing, no tattoo, no record that they ever arrived at all! Most prisoners weren't allowed to freely roam the camps, everyone was documented & accounted for daily with drawn out roll calls in freezing temps. Why would they bother to tattoo all those people if they weren't going keep up with them?Read full review
This film is about extremely heartfelt and emotionally charged story about honor, glory, obligation, devotion, loyalty, faithfulness, prejudice, hatered, and above all " everything else in between" that questions the meanings of these values. While the story evolves very slowly, yet there is enough suspense that prevents the audience to dozz off. I enjoyed it very much and have shown it to several of my friends and their children older than 13+ yeears old. But if you do involve children watching this remarkable story, make sure to have an intelligent discussion and review with them to empower their sense of critical thinking.
I bought this for my Granddaughter. Shes seen it and liked alot and wanted us to see it. I have not seen it yet. But she loves this movie. Thank you so much
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Movie was recommended by a friend and did not disappoint. Makes me now want to read the book.
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Great movie , especially for educators. 90 min. No nudity or cursing. Some scenes of mild violence and a crazy sad ending. Recommend highly
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