An original interpretation of the matters surrounding The Holocaust.

Rating: 7/10 (25 September 2008)

Not only did this film strongly depict the novel, but took it to the next level by giving the story more of a plot and giving some of the characters more depth.
The locations were perfectly chosen and beautifully shot and strongly carried the film's storyline as a result. Many of the actors were perfectly cast, including Asa Butterfield as Bruno who emphasised the innocence of youth, Rupert Friend as Lt Kotler who gave the film that sense of danger, darkening the film's plot, and David Hayman as Pavel who made great emphasis on the overall suffering that was taking place. Vera Farmiga deserves the most appraisal, as she gave an extremely powerful performance as the distraught mother dealing with the aspects of the Holocaust and the ordeal that she is going through when she learns of her son's circumstance ends the film with an orchestratic climax. Nevertheless, David Thewlis was wrongly cast as the Father, as he lacked the presence of a Nazi officer and was not at all convincing with his acting. Jack Scanlon was also not at all convincing as Shmuel, either in presence or when acting, which let the film down considering his importance in the plot.
Some scenes were done better than others, the emphasis of the incinerators was all most too painful to watch and the questioning of Lt Kotler at the dining table gave the film more of an edge. Unlike the novel though, many aspects of the Holocaust were briskly skimmed over, which was due mainly to the lack of screen time of Shmuel, which made the overall concept somewhat casual at times.
Overall, an interesting concept of The Holocaust that definitely worth viewing.