Difficult to Watch

Rating: 8/10 (11 December 2011)

When his father is put in charge of a concentration camp, Bruno and his mother and sister are forced to relocate with him near the camp. Bruno soon notices "the people wearing striped pajamas," or the Jews, and goes over to investigate without his parents' knowledge. He meets a Jewish boy his age and begins a friendship which involves playing games through the electric fence that separates them, bringing him food, and asking him questions about the camp.
This is different from most Holocaust films because it is seen through the eyes of the young boy, Bruno. He does not fully understand why he cannot be friends with the boy he met, why he must read history books and not adventure books, and why these Jewish people "decided to leave everything behind and come work here." This perspective really made me think about good and evil in general. All the soldiers and many of the Germans were doing these terrible things to the innocent Jewish people and hating them, and yet this little boy knew that it was evil. Are we all good at heart and does society make us evil?
The acting performance by the young Asa Butterfield is incredible. I recently saw him in Martin Scorsese's 3D family film, Hugo, and thought he was terrific in that as well. He comes off as so innocent and naive and confused as to what is going on.
Another thing I really liked about this film was the characterization. Every character was different, multidimensional, and believable. This made the film flow so much faster and easier, as you were not watching the same characters do the same things over and over again as you roll your eyes in annoyance.
This is an incredible film that really shows the life of the son of a German soldier during the Holocaust, and what he is feeling when he is seeing these terrible things. The ending is tragic and one of the toughest things I have ever had to watch. But it has a perfect setup and is a perfect conclusion to this depressing film.