2008. Dir: Mark Herman. Starring: Asa Butterfield, Jack Scanlon, David Thewlis, Vera Farmiga and Rupert Friend. ●●●●○
I saw The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas last night and before I go any further into the review I have to confess this was one of the most moving films I've ever seen about the Holocaust, and I cried at the crushing finale. I will say no more about the end so you can read on spoiler free, suffice to say not a single person in the theatre talked on the way out of the movie.
The film, like the John Boyne novel on which it is based, looks at a horrific piece of twentieth century history through the eyes of an eight year old boy. The camera follows our here Bruno (Butterfield) thoughout the film, tellingly the point of view only shifts to other characters when they are directly searching for him - like all 8 year olds he enjoys exploring.
It begins with Bruno and his family (Thewlis and Farmiga are his parents) moving from their Berlin home that they love to a smaller place in the country. Bruno is naturally distraught by leaving his friends, grandparents and the streets he enjoys playing with, and the prison like house he moves to does nothing to improve this attitude.
Early on Bruno spots a farm, where all the farmers wear striped pyjamas, and in the course of his exploring he meets a boy from the farm through the barbed wire fences that surround it. Being adults we are more fully aware that the farm is a concentration camp and the farmers are Jewish prisoners.
As Bruno's friendship with Shmuel (Scanlon) develops he begins to question what his father is doing there, and why the Jews have been imprisoned. Eventually their relationship reaches a tragic conclusion.
Both of the boys give fine performances, although the first time they net they did seem to be speaking lines rather than talking to each other - possible an issue with the script rather than the acting. Farmiga gives a superb performance as a doting wife and mother who slowly learns the truth about the prison camp and whose love for her husband is destroyed by his actions and his attitude to the party.
The rest of the cast come across as one-dimensional, although I expect that is a deliberate lift from the book, where their choices will be restricted by the way they interact with the children.
The design of the film does have it's issues - the concentration camp appears to have no guards or watchtowers on one side which seems utterly unrealistic. There are also times when James Horner's score seems to be forcing the action rather than reinforcing it.
Overall this is a superb film about the Holocaust from a child eye view and it would be a good way of introducing a younger audience to the basics about what happened.
Tuesday, 16 September 2008
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
Friday, 12 September 2008
Out this Week (12/09/08)
There are a lot of films out this week - but probably only couple that are worth seeing. I'm plumping for Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, but The Pineapple Express is also having great reviews so if I had time I'd go to that too.
Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
The more I read about this the more I want to see it. The tale of a boy whose fmily move to Auschwitz and how he makes friends with one of the prisoners, one in striped pyjamas, is bound to be a tough if worthwhile watch.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●○○○○○
Eden Lake
A young couple in love go for a short break by Eden Lake, only to find it shorter than they plan due to some torture loving scallies. I'm not sure what the audience this horror playing on the fears of the Daily Mail reading public is aiming for but I'm sure a few people will go.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Jar City
Icelandic crime drama with fine reviews praising the sharp script. I jst can't stop laughing at the the actors names all ending with sson or dottir (I do know that's an Icelandic tradition - please no hate mail).
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○
Partition
Drama about the partition of India and Pakistan and of families split over the border. Looks like it would a good film to know when playing seven degrees of Kevin Bacon (Jimi Mistry, Irfan Khan, Neve Campbell and Thomas Kretschmann), doesn't look like a good film.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Pineapple Express
Possible the most well made stoner comedy of all time, with a big shoot outs, hilarious drug references and Rosie Perez as a corrupt cop. Sounds pretty impressive.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●○○○○○
Romance of Astrea and Celadon
Shepherds, nymphs, druids, jealous rivals, cross dressing and desire. All brought together by Eric Rohmer. What's not to love?
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○
Sydney White
A modern telling of Snow White, apparently. Featuring Amanda Byrnes, the funny one from Hairspray, and seven outcast students. That's about all I know. I won't be seeing it.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
The Women
This update of the classic bitchfest from 1939 was never going to be a tremendous success, especially when you've traded Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford and Rosalind Russell for Meg Ryan, Annette Bening and Eva Mendes. You never know though, it might make Meg take another 3 year break from work in which case it's not all bad.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●○○○○○
Monday, 11 August 2008
Trailers- Boy in the Striped Pajamas
It has occoured to me that each week I let you know what's coming out and rate my excitement but I've never really said what it is that excites me.
There are many things it could be. The talent, source material, buzz and early reviews all feed into my opinions (I freely admit I read reviews before seeing films). One important aspect is the trailer; and I've been unfairly neglecting the trailers here. I've linked to other sites and sometimes just mentioned their up but that's not really good enough so starting today for the next few weeks I will endeavour to spotlight new trailers that have caught my eye, and as new ones come along I'll add them into the mix.
I'm starting with The Boy in Striped Pajamas. It's out in the UK in September and will be the first of a long list of WW2 related films coming out over the next 12 months. I know this sort of thing never really goes out of fashion but we have Valkyrie, Australia, Defiance, Miracle at St. Anna, The Reader, Inglorious Bastards all on thier way.
Striped Pajamas takes the holocaust as the basis for the story, but shows it from a boy's perspective. Take a look at the traler below and let me know what you think.
