A beatufully simple story of the unlikely friendship between two boys during the holocaust. Powerful, thought provoking and while it's far from the 'feel good' movie of the year, it will leave you with plenty of moments to ponder. A welcome return from David Thewlis, but it's the...( read more)
Asa Butterfield, Zac Mattoon O'Brien, Domonkos Németh
"The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" is a fictional story that offers a unique perspective on how prejudice, hatred and violence affect innocent people, particularly children, during wartime. Through the ...( read more
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DVD Release Date: March 10, 2009
Stats: 5,171 reviews
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Flixster Reviews (5,171)
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September 26, 2009
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August 29, 2009
A very great film about a young boy who doesn't understand what's going on around him except that his father is a soldier, an important one. The family moves out into the country where he has no friends, but eventually he meets a young boy in the stripped pajamas. It really touch...( read more)
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July 20, 2009
What a sombering movie but excellent. The ultimate punishment for the father.
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November 6, 2009
Love the book love the movie! Hate Lieutenant Kotler. A suprising ending.
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November 5, 2009
Powerful and emotional movie. Really like that Bruno was so innocent and naive. A must watch film. The ending is just incredible, is like a punishment for his dad.
Critic Reviews
An unforgettable motion picture experience. Powerful and moving beyond words. full review
When Bruno makes an effort to set things right, the film goes powerfully wrong. full review
Farmiga's emotional clarity and intensity have an almost cleansing quality -- so pristine, plain and right. This role takes her abilities and her career to a new level. full review
Not everything in life, or in history, needs to be framed in terms of things children can relate to. I'm not talking about shielding kids; I'm just saying that some ideas are so horrific that they sho... full review
It tosses over all that finely drawn narrative caution and goes straight for the sensational, swinging its attention on Bruno's distraught mother and the breakdown of a single German family. full review
This beautifully rendered family film is told in a classic and old-fashioned style, in the best sense, providing poignant and powerful teachable moments. full review
The premise doesn't excuse lapses in logic, but the power of the story and the performances is indisputable. full review
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is not only about Germany during the war, although the story it tells is heartbreaking in more than one way. It is about a value system that survives like a virus. full review
The film's flimsy fabric of historical reimagining - a death camp with no watchtower and an out-of-sight corner for illicit pow-wows and tunnel-digging - makes the notionally harrowing ending seem a s... full review
Comments
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June 27, 2009It is a very good movie. It does have a very sad ending though. It affected me very much and now I think, wow, we have it not so bad. We make a big deal out of things like a bad hair day and maybe not getting the best mark on a schol project. Just think about how horrible it is for the people in the concentration camps. I think that this movie shows the true meaning of friendship. The two boys never left each others side, even if it meant something bad was going to happen. I would most definetly recommend this movie to older children and adults.
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March 27, 2009Decent emotive movie about nazi germany and the choices we make in an explosive environment.
Warning though: this is very much a chick flick. -
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March 2, 2009great movie.
it's very sad at the end, but at least the father hopefully learned the lesson... -
February 21, 2009I just think there's something a bit wrong with this movie somewhere. I don't understand how a film about this topic can be "family friendly". What happened during the war is not something that should be easy for children, or anybody, to watch. I'm not a fan of gore or disturbing images, but even i found this a bit too violence free. As someone said below, i cry easily at films and television programmes, yet this left me dry eyed and confused as to why i was not more affected.
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October 15, 2008I found it hard to take Jim Norton who plays the Herr Liszt the teacher, seriously, as he stars in Father ted
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October 10, 2008I went to watch this with school because I've chosen R.E. as a subject. It was a really good story and I beieve the book is better, so people say. The end is very sad and I had tears in my eyes, and lots of the other girls were crying.
Loved it, was sad at the end, and some pieces in the middle also
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