Innocence meets evil

Rating: 7/10 (25 September 2008)

It has been thus far a fantastic year for film. We've had the return of the Caped Crusader, and seen a gigantic monster attack New York City.
It's very likely that everyone will remember 2008 as the year of The Dark Knight and Cloverfield, but with The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, we have a film I feel deserves to stand aside these two Hollywood blockbusters.
There have been many films based on the Holocaust over the years, most notably Schindler's List, and many people will feel that maybe they've seen enough of one of the darkest chapters in human history. But The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is very different to its predecessors.
Based on the best-selling novel by John Boyne, the film is told through the eyes of Bruno, a young German boy. Bruno's happy care free life is turned upside down when he's told he has to move from his home in Berlin to a desolate area on the outside of the city. What Bruno doesn't know is that his father, a German Commander, is being sent there to take charge of a Concentration Camp, which is holding many innocent Jews as prisoners. Bruno quickly becomes subdued and bored with his new surroundings, where there isn't too much exploring to be done and no one to play with- until he meets Shmuel.
Shmuel is one of the prisoners being held at the camp and he and Bruno quickly strike a friendship. The connection between the two boys is a touching contrast from what is taking place all around them, but the friendship becomes more and more dangerous for the two youngsters with inevitable tragic consequences.
Despite not having the scale of film making that Spielberg produced in Schindler's List, this is a film that is very well made. It features some fantastic cinematography, and has great acting all around, especially from Bruno's mother (played by Vera Farminga, from the Oscar winning The Departed). The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is touching, shocking, horrific and tragic rolled into one. It is the story of innocence up against one of the world's greatest tragedies. One that will have you talking long after the credits have rolled.