Friendship

Rating: 7/10 (25 February 2009)

The acclaimed best seller "The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas" finally comes to the screen. With a fairly accurate treatment by the director of the film, Mark Herman, the story of an innocent boy in the middle of one of the worst moments in history, offers us a view of what it was like to be in the middle of a conflict in the eyes of a lad who knew nothing about the horrors.
Bruno's world, as he knew it, comes to a complete stop when he is informed he and his family will have to leave Berlin on account of his father's promotion. One can imagine how devastating it is for the little one to part with childhood mates. What Bruno didn't count on was the absence of playmates in his new surroundings.
Bruno's father has been promoted and is now in charge of a labor camp, an euphemism for Auschwitz, the place where Jews were exterminated. The boy spies people behind the barbed wire dressed in what appears to be striped pajamas. Little does he know the horrors performed in that place. The only thing he notices is the strong smells and the smoke billowing into the country air. Bruno has a first hand look at one of those people when Pavel, a slave-like servant comes to help in the kitchen.
One day Bruno goes near the fence of the camp where he sees a boy about his age dressed in the striped garments. They like one another right away. The only problem is Shmuel, the boy behind the fence can't get out to play with Bruno. Their friendship is put to a test when Schmuel, who is brought to replace Pavel, is caught eating a pastry. Bruno, when questioned, denies he has anything to do with it, when it was at his insistence Schmuel took the cake.
The boys continue to bond at the remote corner of the compound, both on opposite sides of the partition. Bruno's mother who catches on to what is really going on in the labor camp, gets sick upon knowing the truth. The father determines it's better to send his wife and kids away to a relative to get them out of the way. Little prepares the old man to realize the fate that awaits Bruno when he and Schmuel finally device a way to play together.
Mark Herman, the director, got good performances, in general, out of his English cast. Asa Butterfield who portrays Bruno does wonders as the confused boy whose loyalty to a new friend is questioned, but who ultimately does the right thing. Vera Farmiga and David Thewlis are seen as the parents. Jack Scanlon appears as Schmuel. David Hayman, Rupert Friend, Richard Johnson and Sheila Hanckock, among others, do fine work as well.