ViewGuide

Created Feb 19, 2009 11:40PM PST • Edited Mar 01, 2013 06:15PM PST

1. Quality

2. Summary

   Very Good 3.5

   Well intentioned gimmick story shows the absurdity – and horror – of the Holocaust through a child’s eyes, and through the eyes of his Nazi family. It’s all here: children’s ghoulish indoctrination into anti-Semitism; “good” Germans quietly objecting to Nazi evil, though not bringing themselves to act against it; the Soprano-like dichotomy of a sociopathic occupation juxtaposed with a loving family life.

   The movie can’t escape its own absurdity however, making it feel like an exercise in traumatic wish fulfillment as it moves into the second and third reels.

   Irishman John Boyne – neither Jewish or Aryan – wrote the novel like he’s a member of the family. Imagine that.

   For the ethnic descendants of the victims, this tale of retribution might feel good in a superficial, unhealthy and perhaps even Halakhically wrong way. For adult descendants of their criminal overlords, this tragic fable hardly seems to offer new insights into the moral failings of their forebears. For their children however, it’s a hell of a good introduction. “Imagine this, Jr.”, so to speak.
   -—————————————————————————————————————————
   Bottom Line
   Half child’s primer, half revenge fantasy, this movie barely hangs together.

4. Acting

   Very Good 3.5

   David Thewlis – with his pasty complexion, receding chin and lank hair – cuts the perfect figure as the SS Dad/concentration camp commandant. Vera Farmiga is adequate as the Mom.

   Asa Butterfield and Jack Scanlon are suitably cute and affecting as the two boys.

   Two supporting actors carve distinctive roles for themselves: David Hayman as the concentration camp-house slave comes across as noble, a mensch in even the most heinous circumstances, while Rupert Friend comes across as a perfectly arrogant Aryan opportunist.

   Well cast, yes, but yet again we get a Nazi movie populated by a bunch of Brits: Valkyrie, The Reader, The Boy in the Striped PJs, nary a Kraut in any of them.

5. Male Stars Great 4.0

6. Female Stars Very Good 3.5

7. Female Costars OK 2.5

8. Male Costars Great 4.0

10. Film

    Very Good 3.5

    The movie starts off beautifully, lyrically, with a lovely boy gamboling through tidy, tony Berlin streets, and into his grand house, where his lovely, caring Mother informs him that they will be moving to the country for his Father’s new job. In these deft opening scenes, the movie presents the idyllic, comfortable life of well-to-do Germans living as if their country isn’t losing its suicidal war of conquest.

    The movie strives to maintain this charming air, even when the son of the Auschwitz commandant befriends a son of Israel that his Father will murder. Here the story gets more and more tenuous. Ultimately it moves to its tragically shocking but inevitable ending, having long since made the point that boys are boys, Jewish or Aryan. Thus the ending – while necessary given the arc of the story and as fictional retribution for the crimes committed by camp commandants – seems oddly superfluous.

11. Direction Great 4.0

12. Play Good 3.0

    Boyne thought he had written a children’s book that might also appeal to adults.¹ He’s right. It’s a childish story that doesn’t restrict itself to a child’s point of view, giving it some adult appeal as well.

    ---

    ¹ As quoted in Wikipedia

13. Music Good 3.0

14. Visuals Very Good 3.5
15. Content

16. Edge

    Risqué 1.8

17. Sex Innocent 1.2

18. Violence Brutal 3.0

19. Rudeness Polite 1.3

21. Reality

    Glib 1.2

    Would an Auschwitz commandant’s family live so close to the camp that they could smell the burning flesh? Perhaps. Would it be possible for the commandant’s son to befriend a camp boy and ultimately sneak into the camp? Hardly.

22. Circumstantial Glib 1.6

23. Biological Natural 1.0

24. Physical Natural 1.0