The Boy In The Striped Pajamas (Miramax)

Another holocaust film? Hollywood has riddled us with dozens of these movies since the release of Schindler’s List back in 1993. Mark Herman’s The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is set apart due to the perspective in which we are placed throughout the film. We follow Bruno, an 8- year-old German boy whose father just happens to be a Nazi soldier in charge of a concentration camp. The narrative mostly unfolds through Bruno’s childlike perspective, but is that enough to make The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas interesting? It isn’t until Bruno meets a boy who lives in the concentration camp that we are given something special. When Herman focuses on the boys’ unlikely friendship, we are shown a heart so big that you can’t help but feel incredible warmth from their simple interactions. With an ending that is both poignant and heartbreaking, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas gets better as each minute passes. The DVD set also includes a few deleted scenes, a director’s commentary track and a featurette, the latter of which is the most compelling due to its interaction between director/screenwriter Herman and the author of the book, John Boyne, who explain how they enjoyed each others’ rendering more than their own. Grade: B-