The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas - Based on the book by John Boyne

 

GENRE: War Drama, Coming of Age
STARRING: Vera Farmiga, Jack Scanlon, David Thewlis, Rupert Friend, Cara Horgan 
DIRECTED BY: Mark Herman
TAGLINES/PLOT SUMMARY: An 8-year-old son of a Nazi makes friends with a boy in the concentration camp near his home.  

 

After reading the reviews, it's pretty clear to see that John Boyne's The Boy in the Striped Pajamas goes over much better in print than on film. The story of the Holocaust through a young boy's eyes is much harder to read than to watch.

 

In words Boyne is able to share with the reader Bruno's 9-year-old perspective - his very thoughts. We can know how he thinks and feels about his new friend Shmuel who lives on the other side of the "Out-with" (Aushwitz) fence and wears the striped pajamas. However, to watch the friendship develop on film is difficult because, knowing what we know about the Holocaust, it's hard to understand why Bruno doesn't "get" what's going on. 

 

Reading this story seems to make all the difference. In the book, the reader can get lost in Bruno's life in a way that the movie just can't pull off. The great suspension of disbelief required to watch the movie is not as necessary for the book. Bruno's world is our world in words and his beliefs become ours for the short time we're there. Not so on celluloid.

 

Don't count the movie out completely though. Both movie and book have been viewed as controversial because of the subject (the Holocaust) and the target audience (young readers). The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is billed as a Young Adult novel - probably most appropriate for grades 9 and up according to the School Library Journal. The movie is rated PG-13 for some of its mature themes.

 

Despite the controversy, the lessons and perspectives of the story, both in print and on film, can be valuable for the conversations they may start. Adults and kids alike may learn a great deal from this new perspective on the Holocaust. Consider taking advantage of either version for the educational and emotional impact it may offer to you or your children.

MOVIE:           J = 6              K = 5              L = 9

MOVIE POSTER WORTHY	COULD GO EITHER WAY	OUCH!
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times Read the whole review J "powerful impact"	K "an orderly story" K "gathers… tightly wound tensions and savagely uncoils them"
James Berardinelli of ReelViews.net Read the whole review J "the acting is strong" J "a fresh perspective" J "a well-made, serious effort"	K "designed to shock" K "the fairy tale aspect is both a strength and a weakness"	L "an artificial, fairy tale quality that… undermines the seriousness of the subject matter" L "a curious sense of imbalance" L "too convoluted to be plausible" L "pervasive sense of oversimplification and contrivance"
Peter Travers of Rolling Stone Read the whole review J "the power of the story and the performances… is indisputable"		L "the premise doesn't excuse lapses in logic"
Sean Axmaker of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer Read the whole review J "a lesson film"	K "a simplistic perspective"	L "best of intentions" L "turn[ing]… Jews into extras" is the "inadvertent, appalling outcome" L "[the] results are unsettling" L "bungles its message"

 

 

BOOK:            J =  16           K =  6             L = 3

BOOK JACKET WORTHY	GOOD, BAD, INDIFFERENT?	WISH THEY HADN'T SAID THAT
Ed Wright of The Age Read the whole review J "a touching tale of an odd friendship" J "an effortless read" J "elegant storytelling with emotional impact" J "an ending that in true fairytale style is grotesquely clever"	K "will provoke questions"	L "some initial tonal clunkiness" L "rather implausible"
Alexis Burling of BookReporter.com Read the whole review J "a definitive novel about [a] much-explored… subject" J "truly a climax worth waiting for" J "different from just any old friendship… story" J "different from many (if not all) other Holocaust stories" J "a bundle of fascinating conjectures, questions and contradictions" J "a masterful storyteller" J "a worthwhile and profound journey"	K "controversial" K "will surely ignite any number of heated conversations"
Kathryn Hughes of The Guardian Read the whole review J "the slow revelation of detail… impresses" J "the great strength of Bruno's narrative is the way it is mired in the parochial preoccupations of a nine-year-old" J "a small wonder of a book"	K "an education in real time of the horrors of… Auschwitz"     K "borders on fable" K "nothing muffled or held back"	L "slight bumps in tone"
Fiona Ness of The Sunday Business Post Online Read the whole review/interview J "Boynes has broken the literary mould" J "informs our view of history"