Despite a heart-wrenching conclusion and convincing acting, the plot of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas never really picks up. The film, centered around 8 year old German boy shows the dangers of childhood ignorance and innocence. The boy, Bruno, his sister Gretel, and his mother, Elsa are moved by their Nazi father Ralf from Berlin to the countryside in Poland, only a small distance from a concentration camp. Unaware of the true horrors of the camp, Bruno, in spite of his mother’s wishes, goes exploring in the forest behind his new home and accidentally stumbles across the camp. He meets another eight year old boy named Shmuel who lives in the camp with his father. Bruno’s parents have sheltered him against the true purpose of the camp, which
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The conditions of the camp are very realistic, with cramped, dirty housing and exhausting work, and the Nazi brutality is very realistic, especially from Kotler; he yells and beats Jews at any chance possible. However, it is very unlikely that Elsa and Bruno would be so oblivious to the true nature of the concentration camps, since, although not widely acknowledged, it was widely known what happened to Jews in the camps. Another fairly unrealistic thing in the movie was how simple it was for Bruno to dig under the fence and get into the camp. In reality, the fence probably would have been better guarded or much harder to dig under, or else a lot more people would have escaped. It is also less than likely, although possible, that Shmuel and Bruno speak the same language. While there were a lot of German Jews, the concentration camp Shmuel is located in is in Poland, so it is a lot more likely that he would speak Polish or Yiddish. Another rather unrealistic part of the movie was that both the Germans and the Jews spoke with British accents. In reality, a boy born in Berlin would not speak in a British accent, instead he would probably have a very strong German accent. I give The Boy in the Striped Pajamas /5. To be completely honest, I would not recommend watching this movie due to its uneventful plot and sad ending. Unless looking to be bored for and hour and ten minutes and then to cry for 20, I do not recommend watching this
The conditions of the camp are very realistic, with cramped, dirty housing and exhausting work, and the Nazi brutality is very realistic, especially from Kotler; he yells and beats Jews at any chance possible. However, it is very unlikely that Elsa and Bruno would be so oblivious to the true nature of the concentration camps, since, although not widely acknowledged, it was widely known what happened to Jews in the camps. Another fairly unrealistic thing in the movie was how simple it was for Bruno to dig under the fence and get into the camp. In reality, the fence probably would have been better guarded or much harder to dig under, or else a lot more people would have escaped. It is also less than likely, although possible, that Shmuel and Bruno speak the same language. While there were a lot of German Jews, the concentration camp Shmuel is located in is in Poland, so it is a lot more likely that he would speak Polish or Yiddish. Another rather unrealistic part of the movie was that both the Germans and the Jews spoke with British accents. In reality, a boy born in Berlin would not speak in a British accent, instead he would probably have a very strong German accent. I give The Boy in the Striped Pajamas /5. To be completely honest, I would not recommend watching this movie due to its uneventful plot and sad ending. Unless looking to be bored for and hour and ten minutes and then to cry for 20, I do not recommend watching this