The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2008)
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The son of a high-ranking Nazi officer forms an unlikely friendship with a Jewish prisoner behind a barbed-wire fence.
The story
Set in Nazi Germany, the film follows Bruno, an eight-year-old German boy living in Berlin. After his father, Ralf, is promoted to a position as an SS officer, the family moves to the countryside. From his bedroom window, Bruno notices a nearby fence and believes the area to be a farm. Despite his mother's warnings, Bruno explores the nearby woods and discovers a barbed wire fence. There, he meets Shmuel, a Jewish boy his age who is being held in a camp. The two boys begin to meet regularly at the fence, unaware of the true nature of the facility beyond the wire.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Bruno, an eight-year-old German boy, is moved to the countryside with his family because his father, Ralf, is promoted to an SS officer role. While his mother, Elsa, warns him away from the back garden, Bruno notices a nearby fence and believes the area is a farm. He begins meeting a Jewish boy named Shmuel at the fence, and the two become friends, with Bruno secretly providing Shmuel with food. Meanwhile, tensions rise at home as the family deals with the reality of the camp, including a confrontation between Ralf and his subordinate, Kurt Kotler. As the war intensifies, Ralf's mother is killed in a bombing, and the family prepares to move the children to safety. Before leaving, Bruno helps Shmuel search for his missing father. Shmuel gives Bruno a striped prisoner outfit, and the two boys climb under the fence to enter the camp. They are caught by guards and are both killed in a gas chamber, leaving the devastated family to mourn their loss.
- Original title
- The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
- First release year
- 2008
- Runtime (minutes)
- 94
- Production countries
- United Kingdom; United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Mark Herman
- Writers
- Mark Herman · writer
- Cast and characters
- Asa Butterfield · Bruno; Vera Farmiga · Elsa; David Thewlis · Ralf; Jack Scanlon · Shmuel; Amber Beattie · Gretel; Rupert Friend · Lieutenant Kurt Kotler; David Hayman · Pavel; Sheila Hancock · Nathalie; Richard Johnson · Matthias; Cara Horgan · Maria; Jim Norton · Herr Liszt
- Genres
- historical drama; war
- Themes
- friendship; innocence; the Holocaust; prejudice
- Tone and mood
- emotional; haunting
- Premise and plot tags
- historical drama; war; anti-war; family
- Source material / true-story basis
- 2006 novel by John Boyne
- Content notes
- mature themes
- Reception
- The film received generally positive reviews for its emotional weight and acting, but was criticized by scholars for misrepresenting historical facts of the Holocaust.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 65% · scale: approval rating · review count: 145; Metacritic · score: 55 · scale: out of 100 · review count: 28
- Production trivia
- The film was produced for approximately $12.4 million.; The score was composed by James Horner.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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