The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

Mark Herman's adaptation of John Boyne's novel about the son of a German commandant who becomes friends with a prisoner at Auschwitz only continued the controversy and outrage of many Jewish groups and I have to admit I can see why. On the other hand, I have to defend Boyne for his choice of setting, the story simply would not have the same effect if you were to set in, say , in a science fiction enviroment or such. This is a morality play, nothing more, and it is for this reason you have to forgive some of the obvious faults in the story, the main being there is no was in hell this friendship could have ever happened. The other major complaint most have is with Herman's choice to allow the mainly British cast to use their natural accents. This too should be forgiven in the way you would a live local production and I think it was a wise choice NOT to have them try to work in German dialect. I f you love or hate the picture is in my opinion irrelevant, it must be seen, in a theatre for the last fifteen minutes alone. I will no doubt take heat for this but I rank it up there with the dinner scene from THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE for intensity. In both screenings I saw (yes, I went twice) people actually got up and left the theatre, not out of disgust, they simply could not handle it! The first time I sat there worrying Herman would destroy the ending, he does not, and the second time the effect was just as powerful. On both occasions, when the house lights came up, those who had not left simply sat in their seats, slack jawed and eyes blank. As it said, like it or not, this is powerful film making which certainly makes this one of the most memorable films of 2008 for me.