The Boy in the Striped Pajamas:

Hard-hitting climax

Ruwini JAYAWARDANA

Based on John Boyne’s novel and adapted into film by director Mark Herman ‘The Boy in the Striped Pajamas’ witness the turn of events concerning the Holocaust through the uncomprehending eyes of an eight-year-old child.

The protagonist of the tale is Bruno, whose Nazi officer father moves his family to the vicinity of a concentration camp. The opening scenes of the movie establish the gulf between the adult world and those of the children. Bruno is used to the carefree environs even amid the city as he and a group of friends scurry in the street. However this freedom is lacking in their new home. Not only does he find himself alone with no children of his age in sight but his playground is limited to his room and small garden. The only thing which captures his interest is a setting which is several yards away from home in which he spies “farmers hard at work dressed in striped pajamas”.

Just as life is becoming unbearably puzzling for the boy he gets a chance to escape from home and befriend Shmuel, a Jewish boy, at the camp. Meanwhile there is another man in pajamas in their company. Pavel limps around the kitchen peeling potatoes and getting yelled at by a ferocious Nazi officer who seems to particularly enjoy making life miserable for him and terrifying Bruno. Pavel’s helplessness unites him with Bruno and a distant friendship develops between them. However Pavel suddenly disappears from the picture after he knocks over a wine glass during dinner and is beaten up by the Nazi officer.

Bruno and Shmuel

Asa Butterfield as Bruno

Herman draws stark contrasts between Bruno’s confusing yet free spirited world and Shmuel’s in intolerable experiences through each child’s background as they sit on either side of an electric fence and play chess or ball. Bruno sits on the grassy earth with streams and trees on either hand and is able to run and play as he pleases while Shmuel hides behind a heap of concrete bars with a wheelbarrow, pretending he is engaging in work to be in Bruno’s company.

Each child in his own way is made to suffer in the movie: Bruno starves for fellow companionship while Shmuel craves for food. However their uniting point is that both children also yearn to free themselves from the bonds of the system and spend time together.

It is the stern tutor’s words of “finding a good Jew will make you the greatest explorer in the world” which boots Bruno’s determination. He is too small to take in the sarcasm behind the old man’s words.

He is purposeful in finding the ‘good Jew’ in Shmuel and to satisfy his curiosity of what really goes on behind the camp. This will is sharpened when he sees his father and some other officers watching a video which gives him the false impression that there is a variety of entertainment at the camp. He is delighted to give way to relief and get away from the nagging feeling that something terrible is taking place within the premises.

Asa Butterfield delivers a strong and poignant performance as young Bruno. His facial expressions and mannerisms are such that you wonder if he is actually acting in most instances.

His looks come with just the right hint of curiosity, sympathy and fear. He seems to live in Bruno’s character in every frame.

It is truly amazing how his act does not falter even for a second. Vera Farmiga too is excellent as Bruno’s mother. She even manages to reflect her emotions through her eyes while going through the unfolding horrors of the situation. Her acting prowess is especially evident in instances when she is torn between sympathy for Pavel and the general attitude towards Jews in her society.

‘The Boy in the Striped Pajamas’ is inspiring and hard-hitting. Though it has its terrifying climax, the director had shielded the intended violence so that children in their teens too would be able to watch the movie. You are made to feel the irony of the situation at every turn.

The hideous ending of the tale relates that not only the Jews but even the Nazis are made to pay for their violence. The silence behind the gad chamber door at the last scene of the movie seems to echo the morale lesson of the tale: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.