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Shmuel (Jack Scanlon) and Asa Butterfield as German schoolboy Bruno |
Pyjama drama earns its stripes in moving finale
BOY IN THE STRIPED PYJAMAS
Directed by Mark Herman
Certificate 12a
BOY In The Striped Pyjamas is a childhood fable that considers the effects prejudice coupled with violence has on the human psyche.
Based on the book by John Boyne, it tells the story of a sheltered son of a leading Nazi and his friendship with a Jewish concentration camp inmate of the same age.
It bravely considers an unpleasant topic. However, although the film has everything to hand, it ultimately blows it.
It’s a great story and has super production values, but a cluttered script credits the audience with little intelligence. Occasionally you feel this flick has been made with schools in mind. Imagine a warm June Friday afternoon, with the history teacher wondering what to get the children to do.
Other downers are the stilted performances. Lead boy Bruno (Asa Butterfield) comes over less as a German schoolboy whose world is turned upside down by and instead a spoilt, Middle-England, prep-school nob.
This is hardly helped by the rather pallid roles played by the adults: it’s crying out for some heavy scenes between wife and husband. The Commandant’s other half discovers the truth of the camp at the bottom of the garden, yet this tension between the two is barely scratched. Imagine discovering your husband is not so much a soldier following orders but participating in mass murder, all within sight of your new home? The exchanges between them are simply too staid.
At an hour and a half, it was also not long enough. You have an interesting concept of a small boy, the son of a German officer, clambering through woods and coming across an electric fence. On the other side is another boy of his age. What do they talk about? How do they react to the situation they find themselves in? This could have been explored on a greater level.
Other moments mean it’s not as believable as it should be: How come Shmuel gets to sit by the fence undisturbed by guards?
Why do some characters speak in German accents, others in very posh English? Perhapssmall points, but the film is littered with little moments that cast doubt and detract from the subject.
Despite these misgivings, the final 20 minutes are full of tension, and are particularly moving. They rescue the film. But its powerful ending only really goes to highlight that Boy In The Striped Pyjamas is good rather than great, and with such a story to use, this is disappointing. |
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