The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

This was the second time I viewed The Boy in the Striped Pajamas and it was still just as powerful. The plot strings the viewer along until suddenly a character named Bruno whom you've grown very attached to meets an early end all thanks to his Nazi father. The whole film we want Ralf, Bruno's father, who is a high up Nazi solider and responsible for the murder of many jews to pay for his crimes. The viewer begs for Ralf to get a taste of his own medicine. However, it isn't until the very last scene of the film we realize this payback is the death of his own son. We are so angry little Bruno had to lose his life to make his father aware of the pain he was causing others. In the end Ralf experiences loss just as all the others had that he was having murdered.

It's interesting to track the plot through the deterioration of the mother. When Ralf announces he has gotten a promotion and the family will move the mother is overjoyed. The viewer sees that the mother understands Ralf's position but it isn't until later we realize the mother was unaware of the whole situation. She holds the family together and stands by her husbands side for the first half of the film. The true tipping point in her demeanor is when she realizes what burns in the tower at the concentration camp. From that point on she completely disagrees with the children living in this home. She begins to question everything Ralf says instead of happily standing by his side. Throughout the film she slowly realizes the horror that is happening around her and begins to resist a little at a time. The mother's put together demeanor diminishes as she understands the severity of the situation which is a good representation of how people in the camp are being treated. I liked this transformation as it showed the war had an affect on most people.