Here Be Dragons

Rating: 9/10 (22 November 2008)

This is as fine an illustration of the saying be careful what you wish for ... as any I can think of. Bruno, the eight-year old protagonist, wishes to be an explorer and explore he does albeit without being totally aware that that's what he's doing. I did have a problem with Bruno's Jewish counterpart, Smuel, being able to spend almost unlimited time at the perimeter fence of the Camp (unnamed but apparently Auschwitz) chatting to Bruno on the other side but I accept that for the story to work - essentially we are seeing a microcosm of the holocaust through the innocent eyes of an Aryan child - there had to be a way to bring the two boys together long enough to compare tattoos. Okay, it may be simplistic and a tad pat but its heart is in the right place and it is acted superbly not least by the American actress Vera Famigla as the mother. Try not to miss it.