The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

Set during World War II, a story seen through the innocent eyes of Bruno, the eight-year-old son of the commandant at a concentration camp, whose forbidden friendship with a Jewish boy on the other side of the camp fence has startling and unexpected consequences.

Jack Scanlon (Jewish Boy)犹太男孩

Poster

Asa butterfield

Asa butterfield in the right two.

At first we’re never quite sure what role Bruno’s father plays in the war, but we – and his increasingly suspicious wife (Vera Farmiga) – soon come to the conclusion that he has something to do with the distant concentration camp visible from the family’s back window. When Bruno spots a group of men toiling away in striped clothing, he’s sufficiently inquisitive to sneak over the garden gate for a peek. 

It’s there, behind the camp’s electric fence, that Bruno first claps eyes on Shmuel (Jack Scanlon), a shaven-headed prisoner of the same age. As a conversation develops between the children, they strike up a friendship – one that leads to a shockingly fateful decision. The frightfully English accents are way out of kilter for a film set in Europe, but you learn to live with it.  Ultimately, though, it’s the kids’ movie; both Butterfield and Scanlon deliver strong, poignant performances. Just prepare to leave the screening feeling somewhat depressed