THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PYJAMAS
The Story:
9-year-old boy Bruno (Asa Butterfield) is the son of a high-ranking Nazi officer, Ralf (David Thewlis), who moves his family from Berlin to a remote countryside home that is walled off from a "farm" in the far distance. In fact, what is being walled out is a concentration camp, with Ralf acting as its commandant.
Bruno's mother Elsa (Vera Farmiga) is kept in the dark for a long time about her husband's murderous duties. When she learns, she snaps. Not so scrupulous is Bruno's elder sister Gretel (Amber Beattie), who is enamored of a sadistic young Nazi lieutenant (Rupert Friend) and adorns her bedroom walls with Hitler Youth posters. Isolated and uncomprehending, without pals to play with, Bruno is bored stiff. One day, although forbidden to do so, he ventures beyond the wall. Running up against the barbed-wired camp enclosure, he befriends a Jewish boy his own age, Shmuel (Jack Scanlon).
But things take a turn for the worse when Bruno decides to assist Shmuel by providing food, company, and the fun that was denied to Jews during the Holocaust.
Starring:
Asa Butterfield, Jack Scanlon, Amber Beattie, David Thewlis, Vera Farmiga, Richard Johnson Sheila Hancock, Rupert Friend, David Hayman, Jim Norton, Cara Horgan.
Directed By:
Mark Herman
Release:
2008
Watch the Trailer:
