Before watching this film, I thought it was just a nostalgic story about a boy's childhood. Emotionally unprepared, I embarked on a journey of ever-increasing tension, the end of which reveals the miserable deaths of two boys in striped pyjamas among many Jewish men killed in a gas room.
The film is narrated from the perspective of Donald, an 8-year-old boy whose father is a high-ranking Naziofficer. The beginning of the film shows a sharp contrast between cruelty and naivety. The former is portrayed through the arrest and removal of Jews from a Berlin neighbourhood and Donald's luxurious and carefree living environment. However, in a country dominated by Nazism, no one can be so lucky as not to suffer the effects of the prevailing social evil. Soon Donald's family is relocated to the seclusion of the country, near a Nazi concentration camp where Jews are imprisoned and killed. Of course, the horrible truth is hidden from Donald, who mistakenly thinks the death camp is a farm and that the people there live happily because a propaganda video was made to deceive the public.
As time goes on, Donald discovers that the house slave Pavel used to be a doctor, and he befriends Shmuel, an 8-year-old Jewish boy from the camp who wears striped pyjamas. Donald frequently sneaks out of the guarded house to stay near the fence in a corner of the camp, where he meets Shmuel and they gradually become friends.
Because of the fence, Shmuel's hunger, and his lack of freedom, the two boys cannot play together as normal boys do. Everything has to be done in secret. One day, Donald is surprised to find Shmuel in the kitchen of his own house, wiping the glasses. Shmuel is sent here because he has such small and agile hands. Donald offers Shmuel a piece of cake, but suddenly an officer comes in and thinks Shmuel is a thief who steals the cake. At this critical moment, Donald betrays his friendship with Shmuel and offers the fake testimony. As a result, Shmuel is severely beaten and sent back to the camp. In his bedroom, Donald weeps over his betrayal and weakness. But the next time they meet again over the fence, Shmuel, though one eye is swollen shut, accepts Donald's apology and resumes their friendship.
One day, Shmuel tells Donald that his father, along with some other workmates, has disappeared for three days at the camp. Donald promises to crawl under the fence into the camp and help Shmuel find his father. To make Donald look like everyone else in the camp, Shmuelbrings striped pyjamas for him.
The second day is departure day, when Donald's mother, sister, and himself leave to visit his aunt. Everyone has been very busy. After lunch, Donald secretly leaves the house and comes to the fence. He deftly climbs into the camp in his striped pyjamas and, together with Shmuel, sets out to find his father in the camp.
Unbeknownst to them, they mingle in a large room with the crowd of men who are to be executed by the Nazis. The men were told to undress and take a shower. In reality, they are locked in a gas room and are to be poisoned. Before it gets dark in the room, the hands of the two little boys are tightly clasped.
Of course, Donald's father fails to save him in the end, and his mother cries out in utter despair.
The tragic ending once again reminds us of Lu Xun's saying, "Tragedy exists to show the audience the destruction of the beautiful."
The two innocent little boys are certainly beautiful. They know nothing of the dark truth and horrific nature of the concentration camp. Full of compassion, yawning for friendship and a sense of adventure, all Donald does is make friends and help friends. Shmuel is an extraordinary boy with compassion and tolerance. Although he is betrayed by Donald and takes an unfair, severe beating, he forgives Donald and continues to befriend him.
The kind-hearted mother is also beautiful. When she learns of her husband's mission, she criticises him, begs him to give it up, and finally decides to leave this terrible environment along with the children. In the end, as a desperate mother who has lost her beloved son, she is also badly devastated, though not dead.
Actually, the cruel father, who is in charge of the camp and leads the Jew murder project, is a family-loving man by nature. He is especially gentle when his lovely wife and children are with him. However, as a military man, he has no choice but to carry out the order given to him by the leader. The death of his only son takes a heavy toll on him as well.
The handsome, seemingly brutal young officer is also a victim. His father left for Switzerland and cut ties with him 4 years ago because the situation in Germany has worsened. He speaks this fact over dinner and soon after is sent to the front as a kind of punishment for having such a traitorous father.
All these deaths and the destruction of the innocent, kindness and beauty depicted in this film urge the viewer to think about the real culprit of the tragedies, namely the inhumane Nazidictatorship, racial hatred and discrimination. As cruel as the film's ending is, it reveals a truth that applies not only to Donald's father but to all human beings, namely that those who do evil are punished by evil.
Therefore, both the film and the novel of the same name can be used for educating about fairness, warning against racism and Nazism, and inspiring people to join hands in creating a better world.
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