The Boy in The Striped Pyjamas is a 2008 film set during World War II and follows 8-year-old Bruno and his family when they leave Berlin to take up residence near the concentration camp where his father has just become commandant. Unhappy and lonely, he wanders out behind his house one day and finds Shmuel, a Jewish boy of his age. Though the barbed-wire fence of the camp separates them, the boys begin a forbidden friendship, oblivious to the real nature of their surroundings. The message of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is that we are all more alike than we are different. The innocent friendship of the Jewish boy Shmuel and the Nazi's son Bruno, set against the horrific backdrop of the Holocaust, highlights the fact that divisions between people are unnecessary. The first time I watched this movie, I was not completely aware of the true horrors of the Holocaust and so this movie not only informed me of that time in history, but also was also extremely heart-breaking with the inclusion of the narrative involving two little boys, making it all that more emotional and horrific. This is because we see that Shmuel's childhood is full of brutality, fear, and anxiety. Viewing one of humanity's darkest moments through the eyes of a naïve child is extremely sad. Bruno does not understand much of the inhumanity he is witnessing and lives in a world where Nazi soldiers treat Jews with contempt and brutality. The movie manages to both get the points across about that terrible time in history whilst also allowing the audience to connect emotionally with the characters. This is because, due to Bruno's innocence and forced ignorance of the grave situation that is happening around him, the film draws out your tears as you see Bruno start to lose some of that innocence. The ending when they are both killed is utterly heart-breaking and would leave anyone watching this movie in tears.
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