Movie Analysis

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

Retell:

     In Nazi Germany, an eight year old boy – Bruno comes home to find out that him and his family are moving from their lonely home in Berlin to a place in the countryside called “Out – With.” Bruno is devastated when he finds out he has to leave his home, friends and grandparents. To make the situation even worse, when he comes to his new house he finds that it is isolated and stark. Bruno’s parents instruct him that certain rooms and parts of the house are “Out of Bounds At All Times and No Exceptions,” this includes the vast property behind his house that calls out to his adventurous side. But one afternoon, Bruno is unable to fight his adventurous spirit and ventures into the vast property.

     Bruno soon comes upon a fence where he sees a young shoeless boy on the other side wearing striped pajamas, a striped cloth cap and is wearing an armband with a star on it. Bruno and Shmuel become fast friends and find out how they both share the same birthday. The two boys talk about their own families, interest etc. Towards the end of their first meeting, Bruno abruptly asks Shmuel why there are so many people and what they are doing there. A few days later after Bruno encounter Shmuel; Bruno’s father invites a man named “the Fury” and his partner called Eva. Instantly Bruno dislikes them. However Bruno is disgusted when Gretel, Bruno’s sister also referred as “the Hopeless Case” has a growing romance with a young soldier.

     Bruno is often ending up at the fence talking with Shmuel and sharing food with him when he explores the forest near his house. When Bruno visits one day, Shmuel tells Bruno that his father has gone missing and he is very worried. As a result, Bruno promises to help Shmuel find his dad while, Shmuel promises to bring some striped pajamas.

     On the day Bruno comes to help find Shmuel’s dad, he changes into the striped pajamas and crawls underneath the fence. As Bruno heads into the camp, the movie sets a motion of tragic and devastating sequel of events.

Relate:

     This movie is very powerful because of a young boys (Bruno’s) willingness to stand against universal negative views of the Jewish race, while the rest of the world is engrossed in the discrimination of the Jews not knowing what it truly happening to these people. The movie The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas relate to the holocaust in Nazi Germany during 1933 to 1945. The embracement of the Nazi propaganda is one of the horrors of the war during the Holocaust. Although people did this it “they did what they did” in order to survive, this is the reality. Even though the movie is fictional, the content that is presented in this movie is true – the concentration camp and the extermination of the Jews. There are also other movies that revolve around the idea of the Holocaust and the Nazis such as The Book Thief, The Pianist, Schindler’s List, Life is Beautiful etc.

Reflect:

     The movie The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is very thought-provoking and teaches the audience many things. In this film, many themes are presented, such as; Innocence, Friendship and Human Nature. The two young boys, Bruno and Shmuel have childlike innocence but in reality Shmuel is in Auschwitz (a concentration camp for Jews), who has experience or seen the horrors of this prison. On the other hand, Bruno is constantly being protected from his parents, who do not want his to see the horrors of reality of the Holocaust – in which his dad works for. Friendship is greatly brought up throughout the course of the film. Although the two boys live in two different environments, they seek each other companionship during a time of loneliness and difficulty. Untimely, the two boys go to great heights to hide their friendship from everybody else. For example, when Shmuel comes to Bruno’s house, Bruno declines that he his Shmuel’s friend when Shmuel is caught eating food. The central theme to this movie is Human Nature. As the audience watches the movie they can notice that Bruno’ sister, father and many other Germans are brainwashed by the Nazi propaganda but, Bruno remains compassionate and sometimes argues against the same idea. The film points out the choices humans make regarding the way they treat others and the unwillingness to help others that they know that they know are in great danger (may be under the influence of Nazi propaganda or unaware/uneducated about what is happening around them). Overall, the viewers leaned that Innocence, Friendship and Human Nature are the themes that are very important throughout the movie.