Number 474 on the top 1000 films of all time is the Holocaust film the Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (TBITSP.)
Bruno (Asa Butterfield) is an eight-year old boy from WW2 Berlin. When his father, SS officer Ralf (David Thewlis) is promoted, the family move to Poland where their new home borders a concentration camp. The adventurous Bruno discovers the camp and befriends another eight-year-old boy Schmuel (Jack Sanlon,) with neither boy aware of their true predicament.
Would it be fair to character this film as the Holocaust equivalent of Braveheart? Entertaining? Yes. Tragic? Most definitely. Historically accurate? Not so much. But I don't think that really mattered. This film isn't about being historically accurate; it's about retelling the horrors of the Holocaust from the perspective of childhood and the innocence that entails.
Since starting this challenge, I've seen my fair share of holocaust/WW2 films and they've all broken my heart. TBITSP didn't quite reach those levels, but it was still very powerful. And that could be down to how it was underplayed. Whereas films like The Pianist portray the unflinching brutality of the Holocaust, TBITSP is far more subtle. If you're going to tackle an issue as big as the Holocaust, I am adamant that you have to go hard or go home - anything else would be an insult. However, the understated nature of TBITSP made it very upsetting.
We see everything through the eyes of Bruno - at only eight he is too young to fully understand the complexities of the Holocaust. Even when Ralf hires a tutor, Bruno questions all of the propaganda he is being taught. Bruno's parents are keen to hide the truth from him, which I did find puzzling. I'm no expert, but I thought that children of Nazis would be brainwashed by anti-semitic propaganda from as soon as they could walk, but I guess this does make Bruno all the more innocent. The scenes where he is conversing with Schmuel, with neither boy fully understanding their situation, are laden with a subtext, and a dramatic irony that are impossible to ignore. Bruno thinks the prisoners are wearing pyjamas and having fun in a holiday camp while Schmuel thinks he'll be going home soon.
The illusion shatters in the worst possible way when Bruno burrows into the camp to help Schmuel find his father. Here Bruno's ideas are turned on their head. He discovers that there is no cafe and the inmates don't spend their time playing football. The film hurtles toward a shocking and distressing conclusion as all of the prisoners, including Schmuel and Bruno, are taken to the showers. The boys hold hands as the lights go out. For a film that is so understated, they nailed the ending. Hearing the prisoners screaming in the black was so much more terrifying than seeing their mangle corpses.
Lastly, I have to praise Rupert Friend who played the villainous Lieutenant Kurt Kotler. He was terrific as the sociopathic, boot-licking subordinate of Ralf. One minute he is all cute with Bruno and getting cosy with Bruno's older sister, the next, Kurt is beating a house slave for knocking over a glass of wine. Poor Pavel.
Although TBITSP isn't particularly realistic, it more than makes up for it with its subtle nature and ominous dramatic irony.
I see it as a comment on the awful effects of racism. The other tribe are not even human. The boy actors were terrific, even though they were a bit older than their characters. The final scenes leading to the gas chamber are terrifying. It isn't very realistic. But then it's not meant to be.
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