The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (12A) **** David Thewlis, Vera Farmiga, Rupert Friend, Sheila Hancock, Richard Johnson, Jim Norton, Asa Butterfield and Jack Scanlon.
STEVEN Spielberg’s Schindler’s List was an undoubted masterpiece, almost the cinematic final world on the Holocaust.
It captured near enough the ideal tone while being eminently “watchable’, if that’s the right word, at the same time.
Life Is Beautiful was too acclaimed as a great work in its own right, but although, for the most part anyway, a comedy, it was far too flippant for many tastes.
Roman Polanski’s The Pianist is also an immensely powerful film with moments that tear the viewer’s heart out So how does The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas compare with its illustrious predecessors?
Extremely well in fact. Director Mark Herman’s film is a superb adaptation of John Boyne’s highly regarded book of the Holocaust seen through the eyes of a young boy.
When his father (David Thewlis) becomes commandant of Auschwitz, eight year-old Bruno (Asa Butterfield) leads a lonely childhood until he befriends a Shmuel (Jack Scanlon) who lives behind the wire.
It’s a powerful and sobering work.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here