This is a film about the unthinkable. This is also a very
intense film; although not at first. It is only after the stage has been set that
you realize where this film might be heading; and then, even when you do, there
is still a doubt as to what will actually transpire.
An SS officer and his family move into a beautiful home
somewhere in the countryside. The home is part of Commandant Ralf’s assignment
as the commander of a German facility of some kind. That is al his son knows.
There is a Jewish servant in striped pajamas who does all sorts of work about
the house. His mistreatment at the hands of young Bruno’s father is the first
clue that boy has that something is not quite “normal” about his new home.
Bruno; played by Asa Butterfield; is an intelligent little 8
year old with a precocious 12 year old sister named Gretel; played by Amber
Beattie. She is mostly concerned with acting older than her age and is a very
insensitive person; not at all like Bruno. Their mother, Elsa; played by Vera
Farmiga; is more like Bruno. She is a sensitive and kind woman who doesn’t
understand her husband’s hatred and fanaticism.
Bruno discovers a back wall to the house garden and this
leads him to the edge of the wooded area surrounding his new home. What he sees
when he emerges into a clearing puzzles him. It is a bleak looking collection
of wooden barracks surrounded by barbed wire fencing. Inside are people who
look haggard and worn out. Bruno spots a boy, about his own age, loitering by
the fence. He is wearing striped pajamas, just as the servant in his home. His
father has told him that these people are not human beings at all, and they are
to be despised. Bruno approaches the fence and the boy, who is named Shmuel;
played by Jack Scanlon; and the two become sort of friends.
One day Bruno comes home to find Shmuel in his home cleaning
the crystal glasses. His fingers are just the right size for the work; which is
the only reason he has been selected. Bruno is happy to see him there and
offers him some of the food from the table. When his father’s aide comes in and sees this he is enraged. Bruno is too frightened and confused to admit that
he gave the food to Shmuel, and the boy is taken away.
Days later Bruno meets him again at the fence and is shocked
to see that Shmuel has been beaten. He apologizes for not owning up to his act
of kindness, explaining that he was scared. Bruno forgives him and enlists his
aid in finding his “missing” father in the camp. In a scene reminiscent of “The
Prince and the Pauper” Bruno dons an extra set of pajamas provided by Shmuel
and joins him inside the compound to look for the missing man.
As luck would have it the two boys are caught up in a group
headed to the “showers”. At the same time as these events are occurring Bruno’s
mother notices that he is nowhere to be found. Summoning her husband and his
soldiers they look for the boy, only to discover open gate in the backyard wall
leading to the compound.
As the search intensifies Bruno’s parents realize the possibility
that he has entered the camp; prompting a furious search to discover him before
the unthinkable happens. Sparse direction and incredibly underplayed acting
make this film one which you will be thinking about long after the final
credits have rolled.
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