MOVIE REVIEW
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2008)
David Lukacs/Miramax Films
The new British film “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas” comes from a long line of films about the Holocaust, a subject that can often be used as a shorthand for gravitas and importance. As a result, there seems to be the actual Holocaust (the murder of six million Jews) and the Holocaust of the cinematic imagination. These are images we have come to be familiar with: the red flags adorned with the swastikas, the cold, cruel countenance of the archetypal blond Nazi officer, and actors with shaved heads and fake tattoos on their forearms. “Striped Pajamas” is a film in this tradition. It tugs at our heartstrings while attempting to deal with horrors beyond our comprehension. While the movie does end up confronting these issues in a surprisingly complex way, it arrives at its point almost too late in the game to be effective.