| THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PYJAMAS (2008) : M.Herman : 8/10 |
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 One of the year's most powerful British releases, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is the simple, direct, chilling - and ultimately shattering - story of a friendship between two eight-year-old boys in wartime Germany. Bruno (Asa Butterfield) is the lonely, inquisitive son of a stern concentration-camp commandant (David Thewlis); Shmuel (Jack Scanlon) is one of his father's prisoners, whom Bruno meets while exploring - Secret Garden style - 'off-limits' areas behind the family mansion. Adapting John Boyne's novel (which was primarily aimed at children), director Mark Herman - erasing memories of Brassed Off and the dire Purely Belter - takes a suitably serious and sombre approach to tricky material. This is a tale that could easily have become sentimental or manipulative - but the film is neither of those things, and, by sticking to the courage of its convictions through a truly harrowing final reel, manages to do justice to the immense tragedy of its subject-matter. Fine, consistently believable performances from the two kids (looks-wise, Butterfield could be one of The Boys from Brazil) are a major help; there's solid support from top-billed Vera Farmiga (as Bruno's mother) and Thewlis, especially as the former comes to realise the truth about the latter's mysterious 'work' ("The man I married is a monster!") Technical credits are slick: this is a conventionally-handled affair that goes about its business with unobtrusive professionalism, although James Horner's score is occasionally a tad too much at times. Another slight hurdle for some may be the decision to have all the characters speaking posh-accented English throughout (there are only a couple of German words here and there). Ideally, the film would be entirely in German, but the obvious intention is to make the picture as accessible as possible - while also emphasising that the characters in the film aren't really very different from ourselves. Anything that brings the picture to a wider audience can only be a good thing: though quiet and low-key in its early and middle stages, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is decidedly tough, challenging fare - and likely too disturbing for many children. But as a means of educating younger viewers about the reality of the Holocaust, Herman's film will perform a valuable function. And, to compare it with comparison with the better adult-oriented WW2 films of the present decade, it's at least as strong a work as The Pianist, Black Book or Atonement. Neil Young 4/6.Sep.08 -------------------------------------------------------------------- UK (UK/US) 94m (BBFC timing) director : Mark Herman (Hope Springs, Purely Belter, Little Voice, etc) editor : Michael Ellis (The Last Drop, Five Children and It, Suzie Gold, etc) seen 4.Sep.08 Newcastle (Empire cinema : press show) |
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