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I confess that there are some genres that don't appeal to me, but then when I see them they surprise me so much that I watch the movie more than once to be able to assimilate it and understand it better. The boy in the striped pajamas is not a title that in my opinion sounds attractive and motivates me to watch it. Perhaps it can be thought that it is the story of an innocent child, as is his life and his adaptation to the world around him, something quite far from excessive dramatic realities. I saw this movie with some friends, on a boring afternoon, they put it on and I had no choice but to watch it.

Sinópsis

Synopsis

As the story progressed, it caught me. This cinematographic film traces its history back to the times of the Second World War, in 1942. The Nazi regime prevailed, and when I saw this film I immersed myself more in the subject, I already knew some atrocious things about those times, but knowing this part of the story, it was too strong for me.

The narration was made from the innocent perspective of an 8-year-old boy, Bruno (Asa Butterfield), one of the main characters in the story. He has left his life in Berlin because of his father, Ralf (David Thewlis), who was assigned to fulfill a mission in "Auschwitz", a secluded place that in the eyes of the child is boring and inhospitable.

Bruno moves in with his parents and his sister Gretel (Amber Beattie), missing his old life, his friends and his school. His mother, Elsa (Vera Farmiga), does not want him to go out and explore the surroundings, it is a new place and she fears that he might get lost or something might happen to him. However, his curiosity is stronger and behind his mother's back he takes his escapades. From his window, he could see a barn in the distance (or at least that was what his naive mind led him to believe) and some men in striped clothes who seemed to work nonstop, from his innocence, the boy describes the clothes as pajamas.

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Approaching the “farm”, Bruno meets and befriends a boy his age, Shmuel (Jack Scanlon), whom he meets behind the scenes of his family and sometimes brings him food. As the days go by, Bruno's mother realizes that Auschwitz is not the ideal place for her children to live and decides to leave. Meanwhile, Bruno continued to see Shmuel and sometimes he noticed that he was very sad. His friend confesses the reason for his sadness, he cannot find his father, whom he had not seen for several days. Before leaving, Bruno makes him a promise that in the end he will not be able to keep.

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Reparto

Distribution

It is made up of the children Bruno and Shmuel, the main characters in the story and then there are the secondary ones, their mother Elsa (Vera Farmiga), known for her role as Lorraine Warren in the conjuring, Ralf (David Thewlis), the father and his sister Gretel (Amber Beattie). Other characters come into play who are complicit in Ralf's actions in order to fulfill the mission entrusted to him by the Führer.

Among the most outstanding performances I cannot fail to mention these four actors:.

Bruno (Asa Butterfield): innocent, like any child his age, he was curious as usual, he wanted to play, but he experiences the shock of a drastic change of life and that is why Shmuel becomes a halo of light in his life.

Shmuel (Jack Scanlon): the imprisoned boy, his role is impeccable, he represents very well a boy who is sad for not living a normal life, going to school and playing. Adding to his gloomy life not being able to be with his parents.

Elsa (Vera Farmiga): as always, an impeccable performance, this time she plays the role of a mother who protects her children and proved to be a good person by discovering what the true mission that her husband had to fulfill was. You can see his repulsive attitude in the face of so much hidden darkness.

Ralf (David Thewlis): faithful and obedient to the orders of his boss, I have never seen such cruelty in a being. Seeing this, I wonder: What can this man teach his children? Thank God the boys have a mother like Elsa. However, this man achieved a great influence on his daughter Gretel.

Mi opinión

My opinion

Everything seemed like it was a simple change of life to a gloomy and less wealthy place than they were used to living. However, neither Bruno nor his family imagined the nightmare that surrounded the new home where their father took them, much less what destiny had prepared for them.

The boy in the striped pajamas showed me a chilling reality, mistreatment and cruelty at its best against the Jews. Women, men and children lived through the horror that the Nazi holocaust unleashed at the hands of its then leader, Adolf Hitler.

While the boy tells from his perspective how he feels and adapts to his new home, the film seemed somewhat boring at first. To the extent of its progress, it is understood what it is about and all the reality that the holocaust meant at that time. Of course, I never imagined that ending it had, it was really impressive and unexpected. In my opinion I give it an 8/10.

Porque me gustó esta película

Because i liked this movie

The theme of the Nazi extermination aroused my curiosity since I saw a Spanish series called the boarding school, however, the theme was subtly shown in this film. As a result of that, I began to investigate because it was hard for me to believe so much atrocity together, so I learned many things, among them, the Angel of Death, Josef Mengele. The film is cruel, hard, very hard, it seemed very good to me, especially because of the message that it tacitly transmitted at the end and there I want to quote a phrase that I read a long time ago:

“Nadie puede hacer daño en un espacio y ser bueno en otro”.

“No one can do harm in one space and be good in another.”.

Ralf was so focused on his goal that he neglected what was really important, his family.