Since 1996 |
  
Your Gateway to Music and More from a Christian Perspective Slow down as you approach the gate, and have your change ready....
|
|
Since 1996 |
Your Gateway to Music and More from a Christian Perspective Slow down as you approach the gate, and have your change ready....
|
| Home
Subscribe About Us Features News Album
Reviews
|
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas Stars: Asa Butterfield, David Thewlis, Vera Farmiga, Rupert Friend, Jack Scanlon, David Hayman, Amber Beattie, Richard Johnson, Jim Norton and Cara Horgan Director/Scriptwriter: Mark Herman from the novel by John Boyne Composer: James Horner Miramax Rating: PG 13 for Holocaust themes Running Length: 94 minutes There are certain points in history that need constant retelling or they may sadly lose their significance and fade away. The Holocaust is one such event. Even today I have to wonder how many young people are unaware of what took place and how easy it could be to repeat our mistakes if we are not careful. The new film The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is a decent reminder of history in that Diary of Anne Frank way. It tells the story simply, though at times harshly, through the eyes of a young boy who has a hard time making sense of it all. No matter how many times I watch films or read books that are based on any type of racial discrimination I have to shake my head and try to make sense of it all as well. The only thing scarier and more disappointing than these events is the thought that it could be happening again, somewhere, even now. Bruno (Asa Butterfield) is an eight year old boy whose father is a commandant in the German army. When his family is transferred to their new home so his father can oversee one of the concentration camps, Bruno has many questions as to why things are the way they are. When he strikes up a friendship with a young Jewish boy, Shmuel (Jack Scanlon), camp he becomes even more conflicted between what is right and what he is being taught. As Bruno talks to those Jewish people who work outside the camp he is naïve in a way that would be humorous if it wasn’t so devastatingly informative. It is moving to see the shame on the faces of adults at the pure questions of an innocent child. As I watched this film I could still not wrap my head around the attitude that the Germans had toward the Jewish people. The hatred that was bred into the children through teachers and propaganda or the way that human life was degraded to that of animals, all out of fear and ignorance, is always mind blowing. The idea of seeing this film through the eyes of an eight year old helps in the message. It gives you a chance to see it from a new, fresh perspective. The innocence of a child in contrast to the ignorance of a nation. Granted this is no Schindler’s List. It watches like the book reads. Simply but poignantly. It does not candy coat the facts or try and paint it in calm colors. But at the same time it does not force its anger. It allows it to happen. You see how different family members of Bruno’s accept and react to the situations around them. I am sure there were many Germans who where as against these actions as where for them and many families probably experienced turmoil because of it. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is Rated PG-13 for some mature thematic material involving the Holocaust. Though the book is for all ages the film may be quite disturbing to those 11 and under. Where the book allows you to visualize only what you want or need to, the movie puts it there in stark realism. I give it a solid 4 out of 5 fences. Not a magnificent film and on some levels, mediocre. But it needs to be seen and felt and thought over. Though it is never spoken by the creative forces behind the film, it is easy to see that these types of events could be happening around us even today, to the ignorance of us all. Matt Mungle (11/04/08) For additional reviews, interview clips and great DVD giveaways, visit the website www.mungleshow.com
Review copyright 2008 Mungleshow Productions.
Used by Permission.
Doors have a particular significance in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. There is the door to father's office, the door to the dining room, the front door, the back door, the garden door and doors associated with disappearance. John Boyne's novel dealt with the Holocaust from the viewpoint of an eight-year-old boy whose father is the commander of a Nazi death camp. Director/scriptwriter Mark Herman gradually builds tension and you can see where the story is headed, but you just can't stop it. We begin in Germany, about 1943, with Father (David Thewlis) as a top Nazi soldier with a new assignment in the country. Mother (Vera Farmiga) persuades the children, eight-year-old Bruno (Asa Butterfield with wide blue eyes) and his twelve-year-old sister, Gretel (Amber Beattie) that moving to the country will be fun. These children are leaving behind friends. The country house is rather elegant, but in the distance, Bruno can see a farm, surrounded by barbed wire. Longing for a friend, eventually Bruno finds a way through an open garden door, crosses a field and finds a friend---another eight-year-old boy, Shmuel (Jack Scanlon)---who is helping to build a shed, but sneaks away to sit by the fence. Gradually, the boys become friends, though things don't always go their way. Bruno's new tutor, Herr Liszt (Jim Norton) has a skewed view of history concerning Jews and Gretel is eager to learn more. On the other hand, Bruno and his mother have a different viewpoint of Jews and Mother suspects something horrible is really happening at the "farm" and Father is definitely involved. In the mix is a young lieutenant who is an aide to Father, but even he is suspect because of his dissident father. It is when a family servant Pavel (David Hayman) disappears that the family starts to fall apart. Doors open, doors close and when shut may never open again. James Horner's soundtrack is particularly moving, being mostly solo piano done by the composer. How appropriate with the Holocaust unfolding around this family that one boy seeks a friend wherever he can find one. Acting is well done, especially the young boys, Asa Butterfield as Bruno and Jack Scanlon as Schmuel. Their conversations are as simple as young boys with assumptions we know are in error. David Thewlis is the proper soldier who works with alarming efficiency, while Vera Farmiga's Mother is slowly falling apart as she comes to a distinct realization. It is through the efforts of Paval (David Hayman), a house servant in "striped pajamas," that we see an act of kindness, though at a high price. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas will linger with you. Bring hankies. Plenty of hankies. Copyright 2008 Marie Asner
|
Copyright © 1996 - 2008 The Phantom Tollbooth
