"The Boy in the Stripe Pajamas" (1 Viewer)

[Sahara]

Anyone ever see this movie? I saw it for the 1st time tonight and I thought it was pretty good. Its about a young German boy whos Father is an SS officer in charge of a concentration camp. The German boy becomes friends with a Jewish boy. I don't wanna give to much away but the end is stunning.

 

[johno2412]

watched it the other nigth myself on my own,told the wife about it then watched it again the next nigth with her fantastic ending that i didnt expect.

 

[Oldboy]

Once again, the trailer....and I own I've not seen the film itself,merely the trailer...but I wonder whether I wouldn't be angered by a film involving a concentration camp that offered an upbeat message however poignant as opposed to the unspeakable heartwrenching horrible depression I expect to be left with. Hopefully,I'm mistaken .
Any thoughts ?
Best,John

 

[marco55]

I've tried to rent this movie at blockbuster and their online store and haven't been able to get it yet but i heard it was pretty good.On April 19th on CBS there is a movie called The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler about a Polish social worker who took Jewish children out of the Warsaw Ghetto and put in christian Polish homes to hide them from the Nazis.
Mark

 

[Sahara]

Once again, the trailer....and I own I've not seen the film itself,merely the trailer...but I wonder whether I wouldn't be angered by a film involving a concentration camp that offered an upbeat message however poignant as opposed to the unspeakable heartwrenching horrible depression I expect to be left with. Hopefully,I'm mistaken .
Any thoughts ?
Best,John

Watch it you won't be disappointed. I thought the same thing at 1st. I wasn't sure if I wanted to watch this movie since we all know what horrors took place in these camps but this movie takes a weird angle through the eyes of a child who doesn't understand what is happening around him.

 

[marco55]

I just watched this and thought it was very good and the ending was a surprise.How anyone could treat people like they did is beyond me.
Mark

 

[The Military Workshop]

Only yesterday my wife mentioned she wanted to see this one. Not too keen but your comments seem to indicate worth looking at.
Regards
Brett

 

[The Military Workshop]

Thanks guys. I did go and see this based on your comments.
Certainly a good twist to the tale and the two child actors were very good.
Regards
Brett

 

[Rutledge]

Watched this movie over the weekend. It was one of those that made you anxious the entire time. I kept waiting for awful things to happen - which you just know are coming.

I was a bit irrirated by the extraordinary naivete of the young protagaonist. It seems even a younger child would catch on, pretty quick, that something was not right.

There werent any new insights here. By now we all know the holocaust was a terrible thing, the Germans were bad guys and and that unspeakable terrors take place daily in these camps.

This may sound trite but if a movie is going to rehash this sickening but well worn subject, and its not based on true events, Id rather it have a bit more of an upbeat message.

 

[OzDigger]

I haven't seen the movie as I'm not interested in such things. However based on the number of reliable references I have read it seems the vast majority of adult Germans, including relatively high ranking officers, were not aware of what happened in the death camps, so it can't be surprising that a child did not know. It should also be noted that the majority of the Nazi run concentration camps were not extermination (death) camps.

During much of the war the German population were barely surviving on the food available, many starving to death, especially in the last months of the war. And like most humans in that situation they would have been more interested in their own survival rather than the welfare of those imprisoned in camps.

 

[Rutledge]

Well, perhaps to a degree. Im not saying the boy should have figured exactly what was happening. Just that it wasnt a big playground of happiness, surrounded by barbed wire and armed guards. Most kids know what a prison is, at least.

WHo knows what was going on in the minds of the german people. But Im hard pressed to believe there was total unawareness. Even today one can see chain gangs of prisoners doing work on the side of the road. Itd be pretty obvious if they were being severely mistreated. Im not saying anyone could have done anything. But clearly some did know - remember Schindler?

 

[OzDigger]

As I said, I haven't seen the movie so I am in the dark regarding what the boy saw or thought. I'm just speaking in general terms about the different types of camps, being concentration camps, concentration/death camps, labor camps etc.

Of course most Germans knew or guessed the prisoners were confined behind barbed wire etc, perhaps they even saw them when they worked outside and observed some beatings and other ill treatment. However keep in mind that prison guards protect both sides of the fence, so any Germans that were too "curious" would have been harshly dealt with for being suspected of aiding in escapes etc. I suspect most of the public would have stayed well away from the prisons and prisoners. And in any case the German public were told that the people in the camps/prisons deserved to be there, be they Traitors, Jews determined to bring down the Reich, or common criminals. So would they be concerned enough to find out what went on in there?

Even in our so called enlightened times with modern communication, who really knows what goes on in the various types of confinements they have these days, be they for criminals or illegal immigrants/refugees. We have to rely on what we are told, and sometimes it's hard to know who to believe anyway. It must have been much worse to sort truth from fiction back then considering the vast amount of rumor and propaganda generated by ALL the different governments.

 

[The General]

Whilst watching a documentary recently called Australians at War I discovered that Australian soldiers were the first ever concentration camp guards.

During the Boer War Koncentration Kamps were used to "concentrate" Boer farmers and their families together to prevent guerilla attacks. Australian Colonial troops were assigned to guard these camps.

Having seen Defiance tonight I am looking forward to seeing The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.

 

[OzDigger]

The allies in the Vietnam war also used to concentrate the local Vietnamese in camps to protect them and reduce the effectiveness of Vietcong activity in the area. This method was featured in the Australian Mini Series "Vietnam".

 

[mikemiller1955]

Watched this movie over the weekend. It was one of those that made you anxious the entire time. I kept waiting for awful things to happen - which you just know are coming.

I was a bit irrirated by the extraordinary naivete of the young protagaonist. It seems even a younger child would catch on, pretty quick, that something was not right.

There werent any new insights here. By now we all know the holocaust was a terrible thing, the Germans were bad guys and and that unspeakable terrors take place daily in these camps.

This may sound trite but if a movie is going to rehash this sickening but well worn subject, and its not based on true events, Id rather it have a bit more of an upbeat message.

I watched this last night and really enjoyed the movie and the twist ending, but I gotta agree with Rutledge.......the son was more than a little slow and his childish niaveness was not plausable to me. Still a good movie, but I can't think of too many realistic upbeat messages that were available.

 

[DCN1898]

Whilst watching a documentary recently called Australians at War I discovered that Australian soldiers were the first ever concentration camp guards.

During the Boer War Koncentration Kamps were used to "concentrate" Boer farmers and their families together to prevent guerilla attacks. Australian Colonial troops were assigned to guard these camps.

Having seen Defiance tonight I am looking forward to seeing The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.

Depending on the year, the Australians may have been the second guards behind the Spanish. I believe that the Spanish Reconcentrado camps in Cuba were first in 1896.

 

[The Military Workshop]

I had a collector tell me yesterday he warned his wife not to watch this movie as it would not end well. Unfortunately she watched it and the result was she told him to put away his German figures as it reminded her of the sad movie !
Regards
Brett

 

[mikemiller1955]

I had a collector tell me yesterday he warned his wife not to watch this movie as it would not end well. Unfortunately she watched it and the result was she told him to put away his German figures as it reminded her of the sad movie !
Regards
Brett

Wow!

I could certainly see where it would bother a parent.

 

[Simpson & his donkey.]

Me and here saw this and both liked it alot.I will buy it when it comes out on dvd.Simmo.

 

[mk26gmls]

My wife and I watched this movie tonight. I thought the movie was very well done. Very, very sad.