Ugh, this movie hurts. It’s one to watch by yourself, in a overheated basement, in the middle of the day after you’ve already eaten--be as comfortable as you can get, because once you stop watching it, you can’t restart. So please, watch it, just know you can only watch it in one take
Many movies have stayed with me long after I have watched them, but this film remained on my Netflix que until it was going to be removed in a few days (I think it’s been put back one--regardless) I ended up seeing it around the time a friend of mine who had survived the Holocaust had just passed. While for most of the time I knew him he spoke very little, he lived to be 100, to “fuck the Nazis’”
I didn’t know too much about the film before I saw it, I had some understanding about the general synopsis but not even for sure that the boy was in an official Nazi camp. The ending of the story is of course heartbreaking and accurately works as the nail in the coffin. But the real heartbreak for me is the story for the mother and all parents who sees as we see with her, her daughter transform in one direction as we see her son transform in a different direction. Knowing and seemingly uncomfortable with the situation around her, she remains quiet and does very little to stand up for others and pays a very dear price for it. Now, this is not because I feel more for those caught between what is good and what is easy--no. But focusing on this story that focuses on a family that either just follows orders, chooses to ignore the truth of their world, follows the crowd or is too naive to know the difference (in his, and only his case it’s understandable as he is a child) and shows how choosing to be blind not only doesn’t make your inaction okay but it also may lead you to some ugly realities and consequences as we are all connected in this world.
While overall it is heartbreaking, I truly love and adore the story of Bruno and Shmuel’s friendship. While they are young they become friends and true friends, as while Bruno blames Shmuel out of fear, he apologizes and Shmuel both walks away and then later forgives Bruno. There is a lot of hate given to child-like wonder and this film should remind all how child-like wonder is a truly wonderful gift. While Bruno is clueless to the dangers and hate of the world around him, he takes things in as he sees them seeing those imprisoned as different than the “Jews” he’s being taught about and questions his adults--who should know and act better. He and Shmuel both also remind us how as people it is ourselves, and only ourselves, that stop us from living in a peaceful society