The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

This film is gripping from the start as you don't really know where its going to take you. The characters are strong and the soldiers menacing, with the other family members living on the fringes of their fathers true work and their ultimate discovery very believable. Well cast.

Utterly harrowing. I was drawn in from the start. Refreshing to see a war film from a different perspective - through the eyes of innocents. The end left me feeling physically sick - and I'm glad it did, because to not feel sick at what happened at that time is to be inhuman. I don't think I can watch this a second time though.

One of the most harrowing, depressing and thoughtful war films I've ever seen. The simple idea of the hideous horror of war seen through the eyes of an innocent child as his family is torn apart by duty, morality and hypocrisy. It is heart achingly touching and will make you shed a tear or two by the end. Everybody does a brilliant job with their roles and the whole film holds together nicely. All together it is a great film. Watch it and love it.

This is a well made, highly emotional film. The fact that it is filmed through the eyes of an innocent child brings really emphasizes the atrocities which were committed at the time. It is a well executed, well acted, yet deeply saddening film, and is well worth watching.

I read the book as it had been recommended to me by a friend, and the book its self was beautiful. I read it cover-to-cover in a four-hour block and I think that the innocence portrayed in the writing was what brought me to tears upon finishing it. I could relate to the language and thoughts, having an eight year old brother myself. I put off watching the film for some time, as I was scared that the 'Hollywood' style would take the natural innocence and purity out of the story. I was wrong; the child actor, Asa Butterfield, played the part immaculately and the director's choice to step up, and focus on, the relationship between the mother and father really complimented the story. It brought a lot of fantastically evil juxtaposition from the sugar-coated to the harsh details of history within. In terms of historical accuracy, I think the film got the portrayal of Jewish treatment to a suitable level, without cushioning it too much. The 'violence' wasn't unwatchable, although neither too rose-tinted. The restrictions to age 12, I think are reasonable and sufficient. The details of regulations during wartime Germany weren't too clear, and I can see how non-historians may lose understanding of certain happenings within the story concerning the disappearance of a soldier, and the coffin-side conflict within the tale (that's all I'm saying - no spoilers). The story its self has a great angle and an abstract, but understandable twist, which isn't ruined, altered or changed in the book-to-film journey. Mark Herman did an exquisite job of directing, as the brutal ending clashed with the lovely moments of meeting and discovering in a gentle way. Although, as mentioned in other reviews, the story did lose some authenticity as it was very English, with no language alterations at all, the tone of the film was still perfect. - a slight difference from the book, as the book brought realism with it's finely added German phrases and details about the languages of the boys; German and Polish. In conclusion, a brilliant film to watch. It complimented the book and managed to bring tears to my eyes in exactly the same way. I would highly recommend to anyone who likes to get emotionally into a film; this isn't one for background noise.