The Boy in Striped Pyjamas (2008)
When we were very young, we used to think the world of our parents. They were the strongest, the brainiest and the smartest. Somehow, they knew everything and could do no wrong. Slowly, we grew older and started hating their guts. We view their world viewpoints as archaic and promise never to be like them. We abhor their un-PC statements and over-glorification of the good old days.
And yet with the passage of time and dents from the School of Hard Knocks, it soon dawns upon us their wisdom and ability to juggle so many things despite their limited resources.
This film is historical fiction from the point of view of Bruno, an 8-year old son of Army Lieutenant, in Nazi Germany. His father is stationed in the countryside to take charge of a concentration camp. The young boy befriends Shmuel, an 8-years old Jewish inmate, on the other side of the concentration camp. Bruno burrows himself into the camp to help Schmuel locate his missing father. Little do they know that their little adventure ends up in the gas chamber that Bruno's father has been commissioned to run. In the cruel twist of fate, Bruno (and Schmuel) succumb to the Zyklon B poisoning.
In a poetic way, the film questions whether the death of an enemy is any less painful than one of our own flesh and bone? Can we sing when others' beds are burning?
Childhood is measured out by sounds and smells and sights before the dark hour of reason grows. John Betjeman.
When we were very young, we used to think the world of our parents. They were the strongest, the brainiest and the smartest. Somehow, they knew everything and could do no wrong. Slowly, we grew older and started hating their guts. We view their world viewpoints as archaic and promise never to be like them. We abhor their un-PC statements and over-glorification of the good old days.And yet with the passage of time and dents from the School of Hard Knocks, it soon dawns upon us their wisdom and ability to juggle so many things despite their limited resources.
This film is historical fiction from the point of view of Bruno, an 8-year old son of Army Lieutenant, in Nazi Germany. His father is stationed in the countryside to take charge of a concentration camp. The young boy befriends Shmuel, an 8-years old Jewish inmate, on the other side of the concentration camp. Bruno burrows himself into the camp to help Schmuel locate his missing father. Little do they know that their little adventure ends up in the gas chamber that Bruno's father has been commissioned to run. In the cruel twist of fate, Bruno (and Schmuel) succumb to the Zyklon B poisoning.
In a poetic way, the film questions whether the death of an enemy is any less painful than one of our own flesh and bone? Can we sing when others' beds are burning?
Childhood is measured out by sounds and smells and sights before the dark hour of reason grows. John Betjeman.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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