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The boy in the striped pyjamas

What kind of creatures?

THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PYJAMAS
Cert. 12A
90 mins. approx.
Director: Mark Herman

In my experience, films about the Holocaust are always worth seeing. They remind us of lessons we are so prone to forget. The great lesson of the 20th century is that, despite mankind’s technological advances, our sin and propensity for evil know no bounds. Exhibit A — the Holocaust.

Based on the novel of the same name by John Boyne, the film tells the story of Bruno, the little son of a Nazi officer, as they leave their friends and polite society in Berlin during WWII to move to the country where the father becomes the commandant of a concentration camp where Jews are worked relentlessly, gassed and their bodies incinerated. The father’s job is hidden from the family. Bruno thinks that the buildings he can see in the distance from his bedroom window are a farm where strange people wear pyjamas. But the commandant’s wife finds out what is going on and is utterly shocked and conscience-stricken. Meanwhile, though forbidden to go in that direction, the eight-year-old Bruno has explored his way to the perimeter fence of the camp, where, still uncomprehending, he befriends a little Jewish boy prisoner through the barbed wire fence.

Self-deception

There are two continuous adult-child tensions which run through the story. One is the interplay between the children’s desire for friendship and the adults’ justification of brutality. The other is the children’s innocence and the adults’ hypocrisy and self-deception. These themes lead to two lessons. The first is the lethal power of idols. When we live for anything other than Jesus, the Son of Man, who came not be served but to serve, we are on the road to wreaking havoc of some kind. Here the idol is that of ‘the Fatherland’, but all idols are the same. The second lesson is man’s need for righteousness. The moral element, flowing from our being originally made in the image of God, cannot be denied even though we are now diabolically fallen. The film highlights brilliantly the Nazi officer’s concern to see himself as ‘a good man’, doing his necessary duty, even while perpetrating the most abominable atrocities, and is very true to life. These are both lessons which lead us back directly to mankind’s need of Christ.

The film moves to the most excruciating climax and leaves the audience thoughtful and sobered. It makes us ask the question, ‘What kind of creatures are we?’

John Benton