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Trailer for 'The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas'

Edward

Bartender
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London, UK
I saw it a few weeks ago. Very, very good. I particularly liked that the english actors didn't attempt a German accent. This was a concious decision on the part of the director. Especially in relation to the character played by David Thewelis, they wanted the viewer to relate to them as a regular person, and felt the accent would push them in the direction of a characateur villain in thed same vein as so many British war movies of the 1960s. The fact that a number of the German characters are portrayed as moral people who do not support Hitler, as well as being wholly innocent in their lack of awareness of the camps (taken in by the propaganda as to their true nature) also helped here, I think. The end result is incredibly affecting - I found it as difficult a watch in some places as Schindler's List. I wasn't expecting a happy ending, but be warned, it is a real kick in the teeth! Well worth seeing, though - one of the better "serious" films I've seen in a long time, and the child actors are fantastic.

I would love to know how much the original novel was based on any real persons. I know that Thewelis researched a real concentration camp commandant for his role - one that actually lived with his family in a house within the camp grounds.
 

Rachael

A-List Customer
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465
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Stumptown West
I've been seeing this advertized and hoping it was well made. So glad to hear it was. I will be seeing this film; any input on age levels this would be appropriate for? I have a three kids, 13, 15, and 17.
 

Audrey Horne

Practically Family
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595
Location
Orange, CA
Rachael said:
I've been seeing this advertized and hoping it was well made. So glad to hear it was. I will be seeing this film; any input on age levels this would be appropriate for? I have a three kids, 13, 15, and 17.
I saw it this weekend and it certainly depends on the kids as far as what's appropriate for them. I agree with Edward's assessment of it. There's nothing really graphic in it but it is difficult/tragic to watch at times.
 

funneman

Practically Family
Messages
851
Location
South Florida
My thirteen year old daughter went with a group to see this film the other night. She had already read the book. She said it was a very sad, but very good movie. She's a tough critic, so it has to be a "must see."
 

byronic

One of the Regulars
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188
Location
Middle East
I saw this a month or so ago and agree with all the above comments, i think films such as this should be shown in schools as part of their history curriculum, but only for children over say, the age of 12. it's very haunting, mainly due to the boys innocent view of the world, oblivious to the unseen and unspoken horror that the audience knows is lurking in the background.
 

Grant Fan

Practically Family
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846
Location
Virginia
I thought the film was good, but as a teacher I have read the book and well I think that the book was so much better, something was lost in the movie.
 

StaceFace

One of the Regulars
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270
Location
Oak Harbor, WA
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

Has anyone else seen this or read the book it was based on?

From Wikipedia:
"Bruno is an eight-year-old German boy who leads a very comfortable life in Berlin during the Second World War. His father is a high ranking Nazi officer, and things change when the family has to move due to his father’s new post. In his innocence, Bruno sees the nearby concentration camp as a ‘farm’ and wonders why its inhabitants are always wearing striped pajamas. Eventually Bruno becomes friends with a Jewish boy his own age who lives on the other side of the fence."

I'm not one of those super movie critics, but I went to see this last night and I thought it was extremely good, though I was left wanting more at the end. But I guess that's what made it memorable.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas trailer
 

byronic

One of the Regulars
Messages
188
Location
Middle East
I had intended to read the book, having read good reviews of it, but never got round to it. Then the movie hit the cinemas, so I decided to give it a try. Never having read it I cannot comment on the relative merits of the novel v the film, I can only say that for once I was glad that I had not read the book first as not having any prior knowledge of the outcome made the climax of the film particularly nail-biting for me. It's a 'must see.'
 

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