THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS (2008-a rental) 3.0***
This is not just another Holocaust movie…no, its much different from any you’ve ever seen. What makes it so unique and fascinating, and ultimately heartbreaking is the viewers perspective as to what’s happening. You see the evil horrors of Hitler’s “final solution” for the Jews unfold through the innocent, even naïve, eyes of a German boy, Bruno, who is the 8 yr. old son of the Commandant of Auschwitz-Birkenau . The father has been newly assigned to the extermination camp and moves his wife, 12 yr. old daughter and Bruno from Berlin to what appears to be an idealic country estate in a remote part of Poland. The family is purposely not told anything about the nearby camp…but in time the wife and daughter figure it out…but Bruno is never told and never really figures it out… to him it is a fairy-tale, sanitized farm-like camp with fences and where everyone wears striped pajamas.

What adds to the delusion is how beautiful the story is filmed…how it captures the lush green of the countryside and the easy life of the family…which is in stark contrast to the evils that are occurring at the nearby death camp. The only hint of the evil in progress is the occasional black smoke coming from the tall smokestacks and the tiny flakes of ash falling from the sky.

There may be more dramatic and philosophical movies dealing with this ultra-tragic subject, but few deal with the horror of the "final solution" with such clear and childlike simplicity. But, be forewarned…this is a hard, tragic movie that will take an emotional toll on you and your emotions…and you won’t see it coming… you’ll be stunned with shock and disbelief. You’ll feel a heavy sadness not only because of the story but also from being reminded of the incomprehension of the enormity of the death of six million Jews… and that’s something we should never forget… as the old adage says : "Those who refuse to learn from history are doomed to repeat it."

Clark