The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

Directed by Mark Herman
Starring David Thewlis, Vera Farmiga

Plot
Set during World War II, this is a story seen through the innocent eyes of Bruno, the eight-year-old son of the commandant at a concentration camp, whose forbidden friendship with a Jewish boy on the other side of the camp fence has startling and unexpected consequences.

Review
Paul came home with this movie one night after I had had a bad day.  I wasn't necessarily looking forward to watching it because while I hadn't read John Boyne's book, I knew enough about it to know that it wasn't a happy story.

David Thewlis (Remus Lupin from Harry Potter) plays Ralf, a senior member of the German army who is posted to the country side to be commandant of a concentration camp.  Elsa (Vera Farmiga) is his dutiful wife who follows him with their two children, Bruno and Gretel to the country house.

This is a movie that tells the story at its own pace - we of course have full knowledge of what the camp is, and what the Nazi regime was like, but for this family, this is a story of their growing awareness of what they are a part of.

Vera Farmiga shines as Elsa - she moves from city woman to a woman on the edge with believable grace.  David Thewlis plays the dutiful commandant to perfection as his family falls apart around him.

But it is Asa Butterfield as Bruno and Jack Scanlon as Schmuel who are the standouts.  Their young friendship and Bruno's ignorance are beautiful and poignant in this movie about the big impacts of the small decisions we make.  This film stayed with me for days, haunting me with the strength of the possibilities and decisions within it.