2008 (Mark Herman) 14A, 94 min
Starring: Asa Butterfield, David Thewlis, Jack Scanlon, Vera Farmiga

The challenging task of bringing the delicate subjects of children and the Holocaust together is one that few have dared to perform. But Mark Herman has done just that in the most touching, yet arresting, film of the year. Novelist John Boyne’s masterful tale of innocence and forbidden friendship during the most horrific crime of the 20th century is brilliantly carried by young actor Asa Butterfield. A German boy, Bruno (Butterfield) is suddenly yanked from his easy life in Berlin when his high-ranking Nazi father is transferred to the country. Bruno is lonely, and when forbidden to venture behind the house, yields to his natural curiosity. There he meets Shmuel, an inhabitant of the “farm” where everybody wears striped pajamas. Timid friendship blossoms through the barbed wire between Bruno and Shmuel, but his innocence begins to peel back as he tries to comprehend this alien world, questioning his father and the Nazi doctrine of hate. After a brutal incident, Bruno hatches a wild scheme to help Shmuel. The haunting finale punches the very soul of the viewer, leaving an echo long after the screen fades to black.