Innocence. Love. Friendship. Hatred. Fanaticism. Silence.
I have seen quite a few films based on the Halocaust. Some were magical like 'A Beautiful Life' , while others like ' The Nuremberg Laws' were painful, callous and simply makes the viewer hate the human race.
But the Boy in the Striped Pyjamas did only one thing. it threw light on the simplest emotion, that of happiness. The interaction between two kids, in such a hostile situation just makes one wonder what the hell is wrong with people! The Jewish kid named Shmol does not realise he is in a concentration camp, and Bruno, son of a Nazi soldier is clueless that his father is responsible for slaughering thousands of Jews.
Bruno lives in Berlin with his mother, father and sister. He is informed by his mother that they will be moving to the countryside due to his father's duty to the German government. Bruno is a happy, cheerful and typical eight year old, who loves to play with his friends. He is upset on knowing he has to leave his friends.
In their countryside home, Bruno finds it extremely difficult to pass time. Unlike Berlin, there are no friends to play with. In fact there is no school to attend, Bruno's father has appointed a tutor, who only teaches history and current affairs. The kids are taught from a propogandist perspective. All Jews are evil. Every Aryan should fight for the Fatherland.
Its amazing to see the amount of conviction the tutor is teaching the kids about these pseudo facts.
Bruno's sister on the other hand, has disposed all her dolls, and replaced them with facist nazi poster. Their mother is shocked to observe such drastic changes in her daughter, and is slightly concerned, but doesn't object too strongly. Until one day she finds out, the stench coming from the nearby chimneys is from the gas chambers used to kill hundreds of Jews.
Bruno's mother goes into depression, she is completely shattered on discovering what actually her husband is doing.
Bruno's boredom drives him to explore his surroundings. He is an eight year old, who is not content with a tyre swing in his garden, he wants friends, other eight year olds to play with.
He comes across Shmol. Bruno is completely taken aback by this name, according to him , there is no one called 'Shmol'. Shmol is kinda offended and retorts in the same manner. The warmth, innocence, curiosity spills out in these scenes. It is wonderful to see the kids interact completely unaware of the circumstances around them.
The End. I have never seen such an ending, and have never been more speechless before. When the credits started rolling. I was crying. I believe every viewer will come close to tears and feel their heart sink deeper and deeper.
