This remarkable film achieves a level of political commentary without direct confrontation of the people or positions under critique.
I thought of Jesus and his use of parables to stir thought and confront indirectly the day's ideological orthodoxy and, thus, confront it very effectively, for what he taught left it's mark on both brain and soul, requiring people to think about it, long and hard.
This film does that all the way. It is a parable!
A simple story of a Nazi general "promoted" to direct a concentration camp. With much excitement, the family leaves their home in Berlin to take up residence in the country, just a mile or so from the "camp."
The father, of course, is proud - he's a soldier playing his part for the fatherland's glory. His father is proud, too, but his mother isn't. The story adroitly reveals the undercurrents of anti-Nazi sentiment.
The general's wife is delighted, as well, not knowing anything about where it's all headed. The two children, a 12-year old daughter (Gretel) and an 8-year old son (Bruno) aren't so sure.
As the story unfolds, the daughter quickly becomes enamored with a young Ayrian lieutenant assigned to her father's staff who quickly fills her mind with disdain for the Jew - "not even human beings." She soon effects the look of the young German ideal - blond pigtails and a head full of rhetoric, festooning her bedroom with Nazi posters.
The boy, however, doesn't see it that way. This little boy is fiercely independent and sees the world through his own innocent eyes.
He's an explorer and soon, against his mother's wishes, wanders through the woods to the edge of the concentration camp, there to meet another 8-year old boy (Shmuel) on the other side of the fence, a Jew, wearing "pajamas." Bruno says, "I've never heard of anyone with that name." Shmuel replies, "I've never known anyone named Bruno." Two different worlds, and how easy it is to build a fence, and even easier then to hate.
As the story proceeds, an inadvertent remark by the young lieutenant to Bruno's mother - about the stench in the air - "they stick as much when you burn 'em" - suddenly pulls the curtain back and she sees what her husband is doing. She's devastated beyond all words and confronts her husband - a man utterly devoted to the Reich, but also to his family.
A story filled with subtleties, questions, and love.
For me, Bruno represents humanity at its best - to see beyond the fences that divide, to make friends, to feed the hungry and recognize the common humanity which we all share.
The father represents blind duty.
The mother, blind love.
The daughter, gullibility.
Politically, the film reveals the horror of nationalism - country first - a pathway to destruction paved with bricks called hatred of "the other."
Bruno is not without fault - at a critical moment in the story, Bruno becomes a coward - but who can blame an 8-year old. The audience groaned in the moment. But what could a child do when faced with the rage of the young lieutenant who thought Bruno had befriended and feed Shmuel who was called to the house, because of his small hands, to clean goblets.
Bruno knows what he did, and tries to make up for it.
Shmuel, for his part, accepts what happened and their little friendship, with a fence in the middle, goes on. Delightedly in the sunshine, they play checkers - Shmuel can only direct Bruno - "move that one there."
In the end, just before leaving for his aunt's place (the father rightly decides that living near the camp is no place for children), Bruno digs a small trench and slips beneath the fence to join Shmuel in a search for Shmuel's father who's "disappeared." To get on the other side of the fence, Shmuel has brought pajamas for Bruno who sheds his clothing and leaves them outside the camp. Once inside, with a cap to hide his full hair, they begin to search for Shmuel's father.
I'll not give the rest of the story away ... but it ends like all such stories must end - nationalism without thought, commitment without question, devotion buttressed by rhetoric and hatred - can only lead to great sorrow.
The children are all remarkable actors:
Asa Butterfield (Bruno)
Jack Scanlon (Shmuel)
Amber Beattie (Gretel)
Not to mention the adults:
David Thewlis (the father)
Vera Framiga (the mother)
And a fine supporting cast ...
Based upon the book by John Boyne.
This IS a must-see film
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