The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, released in the United States as The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is a 2008 historical-drama film based on the novel of the same name by Irish writer John Boyne. Directed by Mark Herman and produced by David Heyman, it stars Asa Butterfield, Jack Scanlon, David Thewlis, Vera Farmiga and Rupert Friend.
SS officer Ralf (David Thewlis) and his wife Elsa (Vera Farmiga) move from Berlin to the countryside with their children—twelve-year-old Gretel (Amber Beattie) and 8-year-old Bruno (Asa Butterfield)—after Ralf is promoted to commandant of a Nazi concentration camp, implied to be Auschwitz. Bruno is confined to the front grounds of their new home and craves companionship and adventure. He disobeys his parents by sneaking out and trekking through the woods to an isolated, unguarded corner of the camp, which he initially believes to be a farm.
He befriends Shmuel (Jack Scanlon), a boy his own age. They meet in the same spot everyday. Bruno starts bringing Shmuel food and playing games with him through the barbed wire fence. Shmuel gradually reveals to Bruno the truth of what is behind the fence, telling him that he and his family have been imprisoned and forced to wear the "striped pajamas" because they are Jews, although Bruno does not understand the significance of this at first.
Bruno and Gretel soon get a tutor, Herr Liszt (Jim Norton), who pushes an agenda of antisemitism and nationalist propaganda. Gretel becomes increasingly fanatical in her support for the Third Reich, covering her bedroom wall with Nazi propaganda posters and flirting with SS Lieutenant Kurt Kotler (Rupert Friend), her father's subordinate, as her budding sexuality becomes fixated on the ideal of the German soldier.
However, she still remains good-natured and protective of her brother. Bruno remains skeptical of Nazi Propaganda, because all of the Jews Bruno knows, including the family's servant Pavel (David Hayman), do not resemble Liszt's teachings. He witnesses acts of brutality that conflict with the propaganda ideal of military heroism when Pavel accidentally overturns Kotler's wine glass at the table, prompting the furious officer to insult and then beat Pavel to death.
Later on in the film Shmuel is sent to the commandant's house to polish glasses, there he meet Bruno entering the kitchen, Bruno is quick to hand few slices of cake to Shmuel, suddenly bursting out of the kitchen door Lt. Kotler arrives. The Lieutenant notices the crumbs of cake smothered over the boy's face, he immediately questions Shmuel, Shmuel responds by stating that he and Bruno have been friends and Bruno was the one to hand over the slices of cake. Bruno in fear of Kotler, immediately denies all accusation made against him.
Elsa disagrees with the antisemitic Nazi thinking but is too scared to voice her opinion, though she protested Kotler's cruel treatment of Pavel. When Kotler absentmindedly remarks on the stench from the crematoriums, she realizes that Ralf presides over an extermination camp and not a labor camp. She confronts Ralf about it and they decide that Elsa will take the children to Heidelberg to stay with their aunt.
The day before Bruno is due to leave, Shmuel reveals that his father has gone missing in the camp. It is implied that he was taken into a gas chamber, as Shmuel says his father went away with some men but did not come back. Seeing an ideal opportunity to redeem himself for wronging Shmuel previously, Bruno digs a hole beneath the fence, changes into prison clothing that Shmuel has stolen for him, and enters the camp to help Shmuel find his father. Bruno is horrified by what he sees: the dehumanization, starvation and sickness are the antithesis of the Theresienstadt-esque propaganda film that had shaped his prior impressions. While searching for Shmuel's father, they get intertwined with a group of inmates being taken to the gas chambers.
At the house, Bruno's absence is noticed and Elsa bursts into Ralf's meeting, telling him that Bruno is missing. After Gretel and Elsa discover the open window Bruno went through, Ralf and his guards enter the camp searching for Bruno, while his wife and daughter follow close behind. In the gas chambers, the inmates—including Bruno and Shmuel—are told to remove their clothes, amid speculation that it is only for a shower. They are put into the gas chambers, where Bruno and Shmuel take each others' hands. A soldier pours some Zyklon B pellets into the chamber.
The prisoners start yelling and banging on the metal door. Ralf, still with his guards, arrive at an empty dormitory, signalling to him that a gassing is taking place. Ralf cries out his son's name and Elsa and Gretel fall to their knees, Elsa screams and sobs with sorrow while clutching Bruno's abandoned clothing. The movie ends by showing the closed door of the now silent gas chamber, and then slowly fades to black before the credits begin.
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