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The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

2008

Mark Herman

Asa Butterfield, David Thewlis, Vera Farmiga, Rupert Friend ...

6.9

62,977

Drama This work was set in Berlin, 1942. When the young eight-year-old Bruno (Asa Butterfield) returns home from school one day, he discovers that his belongings are being packed in crates. His father has received a promotion and the family must move from their home to a new house far far away, where there is no one to play with and nothing to do. A tall fence running alongside stretches as far as the eye can see and cuts him off from the ... [+]

	Author	Review
United States	Manohla Dargis The New York Times	"See the Holocaust trivialized, glossed over, kitsched up, commercially exploited and hijacked for a tragedy about a Nazi family. Better yet and in all sincerity: don’t."	NEG
United States	Peter Travers Rolling Stone	"The power of this Holocaust tale sneaks up and floors you. (...) the power of the story and the performances —young Butterfield amazes — is indisputable. (...) Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)"	POS
United States	Ray Bennett The Hollywood Reporter	"Boyne's tale is starkly cautionary, and writer-director Herman handles a difficult topic with great sensitivity, drawing splendid performances from his young actors"	POS
United States	Roger Ebert rogerebert.com	"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 (...) Rating: ★★★½ (out of 4)"	POS
United States	John Anderson The Washington Post	"Although it's a far less objectionable Holocaust revision than 'Life Is Beautiful' Herman's The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is yet another attempt to revisit a sorrowful event in history that should never be forgotten or used for entertainment"	NEU
United States	Mick LaSalle SFGATE	"'The Boy in the Striped Pajamas' tells its simple story with directness, concision and insightful detail (...) Farmiga's emotional clarity and intensity have an almost cleansing quality"	POS
United States	Andrew Schenker Slant	"At once too historically removed from its subject and too hysterically committed (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"	NEU
United States	Tasha Robinson AV Club	"The horror isn't overwrought and obvious (...) [It] has enough going on"	POS
United States	Rene Rodriguez Miami Herald	"Even though it unfolds almost entirely through a child's eyes, and contains no onscreen violence, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas packs as devastating a punch as an adult-oriented drama"	POS

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