"The boy in the striped pyjamas" by Carla, Irene & Silvia

“The boy in the striped pyjamas”

By: Irene, Silvia and Carla

INTRODUCTION We have chosen this film because we think it is interesting and makes you think about the story of the two boys.

FILM SYNOPSIS The film is about a boy, called Bruno, who lives in Berlin and some time later he ​moves with his parents, his sister and his maid to Auschwitz because his father, who is an important general of the Nazi side, was moved to a concentration camp, and that boy ​makes a new friend, who is a jewish boy, called Shmuel, who is in ​an extermination camp. ​Bruno has an established friendship with Shmuel and he always brings him food. One day Bruno goes in to the concentration camp and ​put on a striped pyjamas to help Shmuel find his dad. ​At the end of the film, Bruno and Shmuel die because of a terrible mistake.

DIRECTOR, AUTHOR AND CHARACTERS The film was released in 2008, its director is Mark Herman. This film is based on a ​novel with the same title, and its author is John Boyne. ​The director, Mark Herman, was born in Bridlington in 1954. He is a director and scriptwriter, he entered in the film industry before turning 30, after training as an animator at the National Film School in England and studying film at Leeds Polytechnic and ​John Boyne is an Irish novelist.

The main protagonists of this film are: Asa Butterfield, that does the character of Bruno; Jack Scanlon, who does the character of ​Shmuel; Vera Farmiga, who plays the role of ​Bruno's mother; And David Thewlis, who plays the role of Bruno's father.

As ​in all the films, there are antagonistic actors, among them Bruno’s sister, Gretel, carried out by Amber Beattie; Nathalie, Bruno's grandmother starring Sheila

Hancock; Bruno's grandfather, Richard Johnson; Rupert Friend as Sergeant Kotler; And David Hayman as Pavel.

It doesn’t remind us any film, because we haven’t seen any film of that theme, but, in general, it reminds us the reality, because all that the film explains with its story was real.

LIGHT AND MUSIC The film has a sad illumination, but It has a more sad illumination when you see the field visits. ​One example of illumination in the film is the part when Shmuel is cleaning ​some glasses ​in ​Bruno’s house​. In that moment there is a lot of illumination, and we think that illumination is because the two boys are together but without a fence​ ​between them.

The soundtrack of the film is ​by James Horner, a composer; the songs express sadness and the songs are played by a band​. Some examples of the songs that appear on the film are ​“​Boys Playing Airplanes​”​, ​“​Exploring the Forest​”​, ​“​Black Smoke​”​ and ​“​The Funeral​”​.

In this film the silences are especially important because in most part of the film, silences show moments of tension.

Elsa (Irene’s character) Bruno’s mother, Elsa​, is a nice woman and with a very good ability to express herself with fluency and elegance. But her personality changes when she realizes what happens with the Jewish. After that she begins to hate her husband for being involved in that activity. She never changes the relation with her son.

Vera Farmiga is an american actress, director, producer and dancer. She appears in more than 30 films and 6 series. She was candidate to the best supporting actress on the film: ‘’Up in the air’’

Shmuel (Carla’s character) Shmuel is a Jewish child that Bruno finds in one of his expeditions, and they have a good friendship. Shmuel knows all what is happening with the Jewish people.

Shmuel is a very fearful child, like any Jew who is trapped in the concentration camp; after meeting Bruno he feels happy because he has a friend who brings him food. Shmuel in the film always appears behind a mountain of stacked beams, he wants to hide from the Nazis because he is afraid of them. Shmuel knows many things that happen to the Jewish, but he still thinks that where Jewish are killed are showers. He is characterized as all Jewish, wearing striped "pyjamas" with a number and shaven heads. He hides from the Nazis for whom the Jewish work, in the background of the movie you can see how they are building a kind of "house".

Bruno (Silvia’s character) The character I ​have chosen is Bruno. This boy is the protagonist, so he appears during all the film. This boy is a general’s son so he is always wearing ​good clothes: pullover, cravate… And because of that it is impressive the scene when the two boys are talking, because you can see one boy well dressed and the other boy in bad conditions.

About the character you can learn that he is too young to understand the situation and what his father does, so I think you understand the situation of ignorance the boy lives The character’s actions make you think the boy is not like his father, and he hasn't those thinkings of racism. I think the character is described like a little boy without knowledge.

I think Bruno is a character totally believable. In my opinion, Bruno changed during the film, because he knew a new boy and he could see in which conditions ​that boy was.

Conclusion

Carla’s conclusion In my opinion, this movie is beautiful but sad, it shows perfectly the difference between one life or the other depending on your religion. I have seen it several times before this project and I am never tired of watching it. In general, I liked this work because I have chosen a movie that I really liked.

Irene’s conclusion I think that this film has a different ​concept of friendship, because it is supposed that Bruno and Shmuel have to be enemies because of their way of thinking, Bruno is the son of the man who kills the jewish like Shmuel and his family. I think that this film is trying that we realize of the innocence of the children and it tries to make us think that we are all equals. I think that ‘’The boy in the striped pyjamas’’ was a good decision because it is a really good film and it wasn’t difficult to work with it.

Silvia’s conclusion I think this film was a good choice, because the situation that explained the film was real, and with this film you can realize that ​all ​the life of Jewish people was very hard.

I also think that with this film you can learn a lot about friendship and all what people can do for a friend.

CONVERSATION ​(min 56) -Bruno: Hi mom, can I bring a new friend to dinner tonight?

-Mother/Elsa: Yes, of course, where did you know him?

-Bruno: I knew him on the farm. Bye mom, I’m going to play.

-Mother/Elsa: But Bruno… Wait!

*​Bruno runs where Shmuel is*

-Bruno: Hi Shmuel! You can come to my house tonight!

-Shmuel: Great! Help me to escape from here.

*The two boys start to dig a hole* *Later, in the house*

-Bruno: Hi mom, this is my friend Shmuel; Shmuel, she is my mom, Elsa.

-Shmuel: Hi Elsa, nice to meet you. Sorry for coming so ​dirty, I have just left the camp.

*Bruno’s mother looks paralyzed when she sees Bruno’s friend is a Jewish*

-Bruno: Mum, are you ok…?

-Mother/Elsa: Bruno, Shmuel can’t be your friend, because he is a jewish, so get him out of our house.

-Bruno: But mom, why? He is my friend.

-Mother/Elsa: Go out now!!

*The two boys go out of the house*

-Bruno: We’re not supposed to be friends, you and me. We’re meant to be enemies.

Did you know that?

-Shmuel: Yes, I knew it...

-Bruno: But who decides that we can’t be friends?

-Shmuel: Your father…

*Bruno’s father leaves the house*

-Father: What are you doing!?

*Bruno’s father takes Shmuel to kill him*

-Shmuel: HELP!!!!

-Bruno: NOO!! Shmuel!!!

*Bruno’s father shoots Shmuel and Bruno cries next to the boy in the striped pyjamas*

POSTER AND TRAILER We can see a big fence between the two boys representing the separation between their societies, because where Bruno is, we can see this boy well dressed, clean and with a good hair style; but, where Shmuel is, we can see a dirty boy wearing a striped pyjama. The fence looks​ ​endless.

There are two texts, one with the title of the film, which is bigger than the other one, which is a slogan of the film. The slogan says “lines may divide us, but hope

will unite us” ; with the word “lines” relates to the fence, and this phrase explains us the situation of the two boys in the film.

The main colour is blue, at first sight the poster doesn’t look like a dramatic movie.

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Presentation https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/159gVhUs9uj8CRgVQZzy65UN04ZLnBU5OqHvG xWz4AiE/edit#slide=id.p