School Zone. Movie Review
Sunabi Pokharel
The movie The Boy in the Stripped Pyjamas, directed by Mark Herman features a boy named Bruno lives with his mother, father, and sister in Nazi Germany (during World War II). Bruno has lots of friends and loves the place he lives in, but one day, he gets to know that his father had been promoted so the whole family has to move to the countryside. Bruno hates his new house because he has nobody as a friend to play with. He spots people working in a nearby farm and questions about it (the farm is actually a concentration camp). Ralf, his father seals the window so he cannot see it. He is not allowed to play in the back garden. Ralf arranges a tutor for Bruno and Gretel his sister. The tutor teaches them about Jews. He tells them that Jews are bad people and Nazis are good. Gretel gets highly affected by this and supports the Nazis but Bruno doesn’t believe this because their servant Pavel—a Jew didn’t resemble the Jew his mentor had mentioned. One day, Bruno sneaks off to the back garden which leads him to the woods and he arrives at a fenced camp which was actually the concentration camp. He meets a boy named Shmuel and befriends him. Bruno thinks that the striped uniform is their pajamas and the number is a code or game. Bruno starts to meet Shmuel daily and plays games with him. He gets to know that Shmuel is a Jew who had been brought to the camp with his mom and dad.
One day, Elsa discovers that Jews were being killed. Kotler, the young officer says that the black smoke was coming because of the cremation of the dead Jews. She gets heartbroken and starts to dislike Ralf. At dinner, Kotler says that his father had left the country and moved to Switzerland as he did not like the Nazi party. Ralf tells him that he should have informed about this before as it was his duty. Pavel mistakenly spills wine and Kotler beats him up. The next day, Maria, the maid is seen working. Later, the same day, Shmuel is seen working in Bruno’s house cleaning wine glasses. Bruno gives him a cake. Kotler sees Bruno and Shmuel talking to each other. He gets angry and scolds Shmuel for talking with Bruno. He notices that Shmuel was eating cake. When he asks Shmuel about it, he says that Bruno had given him and says that Bruno is his friend but Bruno gets scared of Kotler and denies it. Kotler replies that he will talk to Shmuel later on this subject. Bruno goes to apologize to Shmuel but doesn’t find him.
Every day, Bruno goes to the camp but doesn’t meet Shmuel. After some days, he is seen behind the fence with a bruised eye. Bruno says sorry and Shmuel forgives him. Shmuel tells that life is very difficult in the camp unlike what Bruno had seen; the fake video of the camp where Jews enjoy. After the funeral of his grandma, Ralf tells Bruno and Gretel that their mother suggests to go and live with a relative because it is not safe there. Bruno goes and tells Shmuel about it and says if he could do anything for him before going. Shmuel says that his dad had gone missing so Bruno offers to help him find his dad. The next day, Bruno’s family was planning to go but Bruno escapes and goes to the camp. He wears the pajamas and the cap and enters the camp through the pit which they had dug under the fence. He discovers the true nature of the camp. At home, Elsa notices Bruno’s disappearance and finds the open window he had gone through. She informs Ralf about it and Ralf and his men along with dogs track Bruno. They find his cloth outside the fence. In the camp, all the people are taken for a march. Ralf enters the camp looking for Bruno.
Gretel and Elsa follow behind but were stopped at the fence by the soldiers. Meanwhile, in the camp, all the people are taken to a room and are ordered to remove their clothes to take a shower. The place was actually a gas chamber. Shmuel and Bruno hold their hands. A soldier pours a toxic substance and all the people start yelling. When Ralf realizes that people are in the gas chamber, he shouts Bruno’s name and Elsa and Gretel who were outside the fence hear Bruno’s name being yelled out and cry falling in their knees clutching Bruno’s cloth close to their heart. The movie ends showing the striped uniforms which the prisoners wore in a gas chamber meaning that everyone including Bruno and Shmuel has been killed.
The setting of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is a Nazi ruled Germany in the time period of World War II. After some time the whole family moves to another place so the setting changes to one of the concentration camps of Germany also known as death camp which is named Auschwitz. The camp is in the countryside.
The movie is a wonderful story about the life of Bruno and Shmuel. Overall, the movie was intriguing but still, some parts were there in the movie which could have been made better. The concentration camp should have been shown more vividly which would make the audience realize the life of the Jews in the camp. A bit of flashback into Shmuel’s family life before the Nazis took over would have made the story more heart wrenching. I also think Grandma’s death should have been elaborated.
My favorite part is when Kotler yells at Shmuel for stealing cakes and eating. Shmuel says that Bruno gave him the cake but Bruno scared of Kotler denies it. Kotler beats Shmuel until he has scars under his eyes but still Shmuel forgives Bruno for doing it. That was a very heart touching moment for me. My other favorite part (though very sad)is when the prisoners were taken to the gas chamber and killed by the toxic gas. I felt sorry for them but then this was the plot twist in the movie. Bruno’s mother’s action had made me cry. She took Bruno’s cloth and held it to her chest and cried kneeling on the ground. These were my favorite parts in the movie.
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is a very good movie about friendship, survival, and trust. Bruno and Shmuel’s friendship, Brutality of the Nazi Germany and the Jew’s hard life in the concentration camp are the main themes of the story. The story shows how merciless the Nazis were in the Second World War. The ending of the movie melts everyone’s heart.
[Sunabi Pokharel, 13, a resident of Katunje is an eighth-grader student at Sifal Secondary School.]