Ok folks, here we go with the discussion thread. I'll remind everyone that this is a spoiler free zone so if you've not seen the movie and don't want to know plot points, READ NO FURTHER!
The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas (2008, Mark Herman)
This is going to be a difficult film to discuss, I suspect (but hope it won't prove to be), but attempt to discuss it we shall.
In purely filmic terms, I wasn't overly impressed with this. The direction didn't have a lot of style and performances seemed strangely numb, almost as if the cast and crew were overwhelmed by the portent of it all.
I've not read the book on which The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas is based so can't really comment on similarities/differences. I wonder if anyone here has?
On paper the cast seemed intriguing:
David Thewlis is one of my favourite character actors (and a hero for managing to woo the delicious Anna Friel ), albeit one who frequently seems far too good for the roles he's required to play. Hmmm.
Vera Farmiga is probably best known as Matt and Leo's 2 dimensional love interest in The Departed and I wondered what kind of hausfrau she would make.
Richard Johnson has been appearing on TV since I was a kid, well, since my parents were kids, and Sheila Hancock is always good value so that's ok then...
The kids, I knew nothing about.
As it turned out, Thewlis was once again shoehorned into that uneasy-looking, flawed character that he could probably do in his sleep. He doesn't have much to work with, has Dave, but as he goes home to Anna I have little or no sympathy.
Sheila Hancock is criminally underused and Richard Johnson isn't required to do much more than look like everyone's grandfather. A Nazi grandfather, though...
Vera Farmiga is there, just about. How such a striking looking woman has so little presence is hard to fathom. Maybe she's just not very good at this acting lark?
Onwards, then, to the children. Of course, they've got the hardest job here -
Amber Beattie as Gretel makes the most of what she's given. Her lightning transformation from innocent 12 year old to icy Nazi-girl (plastering her bedroom with Hitler posters as if he were the latest heart throb pop star just plain grated) was the script's fault not hers.
Jack Scanlon makes for an unforgettable Shmeul, however. Ok, the whole film is set up for us to feel for the kid but the little guy's underplayed, simple performance won me over.
Not so much with Asa Butterfield, taking the lead as Bruno. I just didn't warm to the kid.
The story itself doesn't just let the plot unfold - it batters you over the head. I half expected the smoke that Bruno first sees to spell out the word 'DOOM' in big letters in the sky. Even so, I bet the drippy kid still wouldn't have clicked to what was going on.
Ok, I know I'm being harsh here and 8 year olds in the 1940s were much less worldly wise than 8 year olds today, but still...
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas left me with a slightly sour taste in my mouth, all things considered. Yes, I know about the historical inaccuracies (8 year old children would have been gassed as soon as they entered camps such as this, horribly ) but this is a work of fiction and not a documentary. Another complaint I've read was that the film was merely a vehicle for a Nazi family to wallow in self-pity.
Well, yes it was but that's not the main reason why I disliked this plodding movie.
The Holocaust was the modern world's prime example of Man's inhumanity to Man and there are still millions who, even if they didn't directly experience it, were alive at the time. As such, I'm sure directors and actors approach films about that period of history with an even greater degree of seriousness than usual but thankfully they all don't turn out like The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. Polanski's The Pianist is one which immediately springs to mind which, to my mind anyway, managed to get its point across without being didactic.
Of course, I may have got things totally arse-about-face! What did you all think?
I'd give it a because I believed in young Mr Scanlon and the sets looked nice...
The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas (2008, Mark Herman)
This is going to be a difficult film to discuss, I suspect (but hope it won't prove to be), but attempt to discuss it we shall.
In purely filmic terms, I wasn't overly impressed with this. The direction didn't have a lot of style and performances seemed strangely numb, almost as if the cast and crew were overwhelmed by the portent of it all.
I've not read the book on which The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas is based so can't really comment on similarities/differences. I wonder if anyone here has?
On paper the cast seemed intriguing:
David Thewlis is one of my favourite character actors (and a hero for managing to woo the delicious Anna Friel ), albeit one who frequently seems far too good for the roles he's required to play. Hmmm.
Vera Farmiga is probably best known as Matt and Leo's 2 dimensional love interest in The Departed and I wondered what kind of hausfrau she would make.
Richard Johnson has been appearing on TV since I was a kid, well, since my parents were kids, and Sheila Hancock is always good value so that's ok then...
The kids, I knew nothing about.
As it turned out, Thewlis was once again shoehorned into that uneasy-looking, flawed character that he could probably do in his sleep. He doesn't have much to work with, has Dave, but as he goes home to Anna I have little or no sympathy.
Sheila Hancock is criminally underused and Richard Johnson isn't required to do much more than look like everyone's grandfather. A Nazi grandfather, though...
Vera Farmiga is there, just about. How such a striking looking woman has so little presence is hard to fathom. Maybe she's just not very good at this acting lark?
Onwards, then, to the children. Of course, they've got the hardest job here -
Amber Beattie as Gretel makes the most of what she's given. Her lightning transformation from innocent 12 year old to icy Nazi-girl (plastering her bedroom with Hitler posters as if he were the latest heart throb pop star just plain grated) was the script's fault not hers.
Jack Scanlon makes for an unforgettable Shmeul, however. Ok, the whole film is set up for us to feel for the kid but the little guy's underplayed, simple performance won me over.
Not so much with Asa Butterfield, taking the lead as Bruno. I just didn't warm to the kid.
The story itself doesn't just let the plot unfold - it batters you over the head. I half expected the smoke that Bruno first sees to spell out the word 'DOOM' in big letters in the sky. Even so, I bet the drippy kid still wouldn't have clicked to what was going on.
Ok, I know I'm being harsh here and 8 year olds in the 1940s were much less worldly wise than 8 year olds today, but still...
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas left me with a slightly sour taste in my mouth, all things considered. Yes, I know about the historical inaccuracies (8 year old children would have been gassed as soon as they entered camps such as this, horribly ) but this is a work of fiction and not a documentary. Another complaint I've read was that the film was merely a vehicle for a Nazi family to wallow in self-pity.
Well, yes it was but that's not the main reason why I disliked this plodding movie.
The Holocaust was the modern world's prime example of Man's inhumanity to Man and there are still millions who, even if they didn't directly experience it, were alive at the time. As such, I'm sure directors and actors approach films about that period of history with an even greater degree of seriousness than usual but thankfully they all don't turn out like The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. Polanski's The Pianist is one which immediately springs to mind which, to my mind anyway, managed to get its point across without being didactic.
Of course, I may have got things totally arse-about-face! What did you all think?
I'd give it a because I believed in young Mr Scanlon and the sets looked nice...
__________________
"Critics are like eunuchs in a harem; they know how the Tatty 100 is done, they've seen it done every day, but they're unable to do it themselves." - Brendan Behan
"Critics are like eunuchs in a harem; they know how the Tatty 100 is done, they've seen it done every day, but they're unable to do it themselves." - Brendan Behan