Wednesday, January 4, 2012

PERIOD 1 -THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS.

Please share your thoughts about the film.

30 comments:

Molly Hester (Period 1) said...

Unlike many of the other movies we have watched in Facing History I have actually heard of this one before. I figured it was going to be a sad movie given the interesting friendship between Bruno and Schmuel. Throughout the movie I was constantly upset by all of the adults who ridiculed and made Bruno feel bad about his innocence and his good heartedness in not believing that the Jewish people were bad. I was nearly heartbroken at many different times throughout the movie, like when Pavo told Bruno he was a doctor and Bruno said that he must not have been a very good one since he peels potatoes now. Every time the movie should Schmuel and Bruno being better friends it just made me more and more scared for their future, originally I thought Bruno would see shcumuel get shot by a Nazi commander never did I imagine him actually having to go into the camp and being killed in one of the showers that his own father helped to run. I believe that this movie is a very emotionally stirring one, and is something that everyone should see.

Brian Doran said...

This film was excellent i found it hard to look away from the screen. The story is very sad and i never new what to expect what was going to happen. The friendship between Bruno and Schmuel is so interesting. Schmuel clearly understands what is going on because he is living in the concentration camp and Bruno is so naive. Some of the comments that Bruno makes towards Schmuel are so disturbing but he says them clearly because he is just naive. I found myself to have mixed feelings of anger and sadness throughout the movie. When Bruno betrays Schmuel i felt that he was leaning towards the Nazi beliefs and i was sickened that he would betray his only friend to look in front of the Nazi guard. When the Nazi teenager was yelling at Schmuel and said "I will talk to you later" i felt like his life was over and thankfully it turned out that he was still alive, however he had been beaten which is just disturbing because of his age. The innocence in the friendship between these two eight year old boys is amazing and shows how some people disagreed with the Nazi party. This movie is brilliant and there is so much to say about it, i feel like this movie out of every other that we have watched has made the biggest impact on me.

Kate O'Donoghue said...

This was a truly unforgettable film. Many of the movies that we watch in Facing History are memorable, but this one I will never forget. Throughout the film I wanted to break down and start crying and throughout the day this is the only thing I could think about. It was the innocence and the friendship that Bruno and Schmuel had throughout the movie. The fact that Bruno entered the concentration camp wanting to him Schmuel find his father was what broke my heart. I understood why Bruno's mother tried to prevent him from knowing anything about the camps, but since they were living so close to them I thought that she should have. It was the innocent comments that Bruno made throughout the movie that made it even sadder. He was confused and didn't understand the camps, and he shouldn't have he was only an eight year old. When he watched the movie that his father made about the concentration camps, made Bruno even more confused. I recommended this film to both of my parents and want to watch it with them because I think that this is a movie that everybody should see.

Kate O'Donoghue said...

This was a truly unforgettable film. Many of the movies that we watch in Facing History are memorable, but this one I will never forget. Throughout the film I wanted to break down and start crying and throughout the day this is the only thing I could think about. It was the innocence and the friendship that Bruno and Schmuel had throughout the movie. The fact that Bruno entered the concentration camp wanting to him Schmuel find his father was what broke my heart. I understood why Bruno's mother tried to prevent him from knowing anything about the camps, but since they were living so close to them I thought that she should have. It was the innocent comments that Bruno made throughout the movie that made it even sadder. He was confused and didn't understand the camps, and he shouldn't have he was only an eight year old. When he watched the movie that his father made about the concentration camps, made Bruno even more confused. I recommended this film to both of my parents and want to watch it with them because I think that this is a movie that everybody should see.

Heather Mannarino said...

This was one of the harder movies to watch. Seeing the mother change through out the movie, learning about the camps was horrifying. Then Bruno, who was so young and didn't understand what was happening at the camps, just wanting to help Schmuel. In the end, you knew he wasn't going to make it out of the camp. As the audience, knowing what's happeing in the camps and watching these two small boys walk into their death, especially Bruno, was absolutely horrifying. The only was his father, Ralph, would listen and realize is when his own son died because of what he never stopped. That's the saddest part.

Aidas Rudis said...

I thought that this film was probably the most depressing film we watched all year. You saw it thorough the eyes of Nazi officer's young son. The thing was you could never take your eyes off the screen because you wanted to see if Brunno and his friend Schmuel had something either good or bad happen to them. I found this feeling very strange because I never had it happen at the same time before, especially at the end of the movie. All I can say is that it struck me as the most moving movie we've seen, but for the wrong reason because I would have helped Schmuel, but possibly in a different way through contact with outside sources or leaving Brunno's original clothes on. Once the end of the movie came, I didn't know what to think after it ended. It didn't help the fact that the bell rang thirty seconds after either because you had to wonder 'How am I going to go about my day now seeing this?' But I think that's why we watched this movie, to get an even "better" perspective on what the concentration camps were like.

DavidRos123 said...

This movie, in my opinion was the hardest movie that I had ever watched in our class. I felt really depressed when I saw Schmeul starving and all alone. Although Bruno was there and helped anytime he could, I knew that in the end it would never work out, However the extent of a child's imagination cannot be measured. Bruno and Schmeul had big imaaginations and rthat was somewhat a relief of what was going on in the camps. All in all the movie was very sad. I was speechless as to what happened and couldn't stop thinking about their innocent young faces right before they died in the chambers.

Andrew MacElhaney said...

This movie was different from all the other movies we watched this semester in so many ways. IT was truly inspirational because off the boy who father was part of the German army and he had a jewish friend and would help him out. This movie really shook me up at the end and in the middle of it. THe wife was very mad at her husband for killing innocent people. ALso the Little boy Bruno cross the line and went to help the Jewish boy help find his father and didn't know about risking his life would have happened in the making. This movie was really messed up. The movie was very sad at the end and the part when you saw the faces of the two boys going into the chambers about to die didn't know what was going to happen I couldn't get that out of my head and it makes me sad thinking about it. I was really shocked and shaking up at the end of the movie and a very sad movie.

Jim Gross said...

I thought that this movie was awesome because it showed the war from such an innocent point of view. Bruno didn't know what was going on in the camps, or even that it was a "camp for Jews" at all. It wasn't like the same old, "we have to do everything we can to stop this or rebel against it" routine that I have seen so many movies based on that time era do, this dealt with more of the realities of living as a non-Jew in Nazi Germany.
The ending of the movie, however was what made the entire film for me. It was the most powerful way that the film could have ended, and even though it was horribly sad what happened to Bruno, I still felt myself half-smiling while the camera zoomed in on the father's grief-stricken face. It was like a, "yeah doesn't feel to good does it now" type of thing for me.

Andrew Lampi (Period 1) said...

I watched this movie 16 hours ago and whenever I think about it I still am left without words. I can say with the utmost certainty that this was the first movie I've ever watched that when it ended, left me feeling so empty and shaken that I did not want to get up from my chair. I still cant really say much about this film, its all just milling about, trying to be abosrbed still, but I can say this: This movie left me feeling so empty and just shellshocked because of its innocence. Here were two children who knew nothing of what was going on around them. All they knew was that they were not allowed to play together because there was a fence in between them that would hurt if the touched it. Bruno felt so bad for having wronged Schmuel at his house that he vowed to do anything to help him. Schmuel never realized what happened to his father, he simply thought he had gone somewhere else and it was up to Schmuel to find him. These two were so brave and so innocent. All they wanted to do was help each other and help other people. Its just not fair. Not fair at all.

Becky Litwin said...

This film pissed me off, made me want to cry but most of all HATE everything the Nazis were. Period. I'll never let myself be a bystander, I would never want to see these atrocities in person, I wouldn't be able to handle it

Renata Katz(Period 1) said...

This movie was very touching, however, made me very frusterated at times. The main character in the film, Bruno, was the son of a Nazi soldier. Since he was only 8 years old, he had no idea about the horrors occuring only a mile away from his house. His older sister, who was 12 years old, was mindful of what was going on and gave her father much support. The scene where she removed the dolls from her room and put up Nazi posters was disgusting. At such a young age, she was completely brainwashed, saying Jews were "vermon and harmful."She was only saying that because she heard that from the ignorant Nazi soldiers around her. Also, the older Holocaust victim that was a servant in the house really touched my heart. When he saw Bruno fall off of his swing, he rushed over to help him and brought him in the house to clean up his wounds. He was a doctor, and even though he helped Bruno, and did more than he could physically manage at the house, he was still beaten to death by one of the nasty Soldiers for accidentally knocking over a glass of wine. This part made me so furious, he seemed to be a completely innocent, successful Jewish (they were in fact the most successful) doctor and did not deserve to die for making such a small mistake.
The dynamic between Bruno and Schmuel, the boy on the other side of the fence whom Bruno comes across while "exploring", is very touching. Bruno looks at Schmuel as just another boy, like the boys in his old town. He doesn't think anything differently about Schmuel because he's Jewish. All he wanted was a friend. Bruno's curiousity in the "game" that he thinks Schmuel is a participant in leads him to cross to the other side of the fence. Unknowingly, Bruno within minutes was sent to death. When Bruno's family finds him missing, they go on a search for him, come across the hole that he dug to get to the other side, and soon realize that he was murdered along with the so called "vermon". The look on Bruno's father's face at the end really showed a lot about human nature. Since it was HIS CHILD, it was devastating. But all of the other children being murdered, well, that didn't matter to him. He thought they were just Jews, they weren't worthy of living. Although it was really upsetting that Bruno was murdered, it was pretty much payback to his father who was participating in the murder of millions of Jews.

Matt DeRusha said...

This film was incredibly disturbing to me. It made me angry to watch the nazi's do this to innocent people, including brave 8 year old boys who were so full of joy and had their entire life ahead of them. The thing that pissed me off the most out of this entire film is the fact that they can kill millions of innocent Jewish human beings of all ages, and have no problem with it, but once Bruno dies it is terribly tragic to them. This angered me, because everyone else in the gas chamber with Bruno, and everyone before and after him, were just as innocent as Bruno. They were just as kind, caring, and brave as Bruno. They were just as human.

Ryan Sciba said...

After watching the Boy in the Stripped Pajamas, I was really affected. Especially after the end scene. When I walked into my Math class second period, I had to ask my teacher to give me a minute to recollect my thoughts and gather myself. It was so sad to see both innocent boys be killed for no reason at all. Yet I feel that there is a darker side… I almost think that this is a learning experience for all Germans. The Nazi leader of the camps son was gassed on accident, imagine how he felt. And his family, that is what the Jewish people endured every day until it was their turn to go. So when his son died, I feel like a revelation should have been made and the leader and father should have decided to cancel the project. But no, hundreds of thousands of innocent people died including German people, yet the Nazis continued. Its sickening.

Meghan O'Neil (Period 1) said...

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is a movie I will not forget. I was at a loss after watching it. It was so sad and heart- wrenching, after the movie I didn’t want to get up. I was just trying to take in everything that just happened. The last scene was probably the saddest part of the movie. To see the innocence of two young boys caught up in this disgraceful situation being shoved into the gas chambers with no clue of what was going to happen. They only wanted to find Schmuel’s father but little did they know he was already dead. They all were going to die. The father of Bruno really bothered me in this movie- the fact he would move his family so close to the concentration camps and let them see the horrors of Jews being abused in his own home. Like when the older Jewish man who was a servant there was beat so extensively for spilling wine. The look of terror on Bruno’s face was just so sad because he liked the old man. It was too hard for an 8 year old to understand what was going on. He looked up to his father as a great solider but never knew the terrible things his father did. I felt really bad for Bruno and Schmuel. The two boys just wanted to be friends but were separated by a fence. I felt so bad for Schmuel because he had to be subjected to the horrors and abuse in the concentration camps. When Bruno decided he was going to dig a hole and help Schmuel I was dumbfounded. Bruno was so naïve and innocent that he didn’t understand what he was getting himself into. I wanted Schmuel to escape inside of Bruno becoming trapped. When the family realized Bruno was missing they went on a search. I felt bad for the mother because she was sickened by the actions of her husband. When they realized Bruno went into the concentration camp it was as if they had already lost him. The fact his father was so devastated about the death of his son but can easily kill Jews day after day really sickened me. To think someone could be completely okay with taking others lives for no reason makes me so anger especially when they never did anything wrong to begin with.

Ryan Sciba (Period 1) said...

Similar to Molly, I too had head of this film. My sister made sure to warn me of this movie because the ending took an emotional toll as well. This was a different film as well, instead of seeing purly how the Jewish people suffered; it was from a different perspective. From that of a German family, I almost felt glad… not that the boy was killed! But that the Nazi felt a pain he never wanted to feel. I felt terrible when the two boys died together, but I was even more upset when Bruno told the officer the little Jewish boy was stealing. That made me so mad and I felt so bad for Schmuel, an innocent friendly little boy having to get hit and put to death. And millions more just like him, its heart wrenching.

Brian Macario (Period 1) said...

This movie was just so hard for me to watch. I never thought both the little kids were going to die. I was expecting Bruno to help Schmuel be free. It's understandable how Bruno wanted to help Schmuel. From there it showed how Bruno cared about Schmuel. I really wished that Bruno's parents saved both the kids on time. Once both Bruno and Schmuel got into the showers it the movie just got sad and I found really sad but at the same time messed up how Bruno and Schmuel both died. they're just little kids and they had things ahead of them. Honestly this was one of the hardest movies to watch during class. I never knew I was going to watch that ending.

Brian Macario (Period 1) said...

This movie was just so hard for me to watch. I never thought both the little kids were going to die. I was expecting Bruno to help Schmuel be free. It's understandable how Bruno wanted to help Schmuel. From there it showed how Bruno cared about Schmuel. I really wished that Bruno's parents saved both the kids on time. Once both Bruno and Schmuel got into the showers it the movie just got sad and I found really sad but at the same time messed up how Bruno and Schmuel both died. they're just little kids and they had things ahead of them. Honestly this was one of the hardest movies to watch during class. I never knew I was going to watch that ending.

Michelle Ziedonis said...

This is a truly unforgettable movie. After we started watching it the first day, I wanted to miss my second period class and watch the whole thing. At the end, I almost cried. I thought it was sad that a young child was the only person who could see through the all the lies the Nazis spread about Jews. Bruno got to know Schmuel as a person, and although at first may have been hesitant to continue being his friend after discovering Schmuel was a Jew, didn't discontinue their friendship. And at the end when they were in the gas chamber, Bruno held Schmuel's hand as a way to comfort each other as they were dying. If more people had been like Bruno in Germany, maybe someone could have stopped the Nazis sooner.

Nick Ferretti said...

Seeing this movie now, at an older age, made me think more than I had when I first watched it. When I first watched the movie I didn't think anything of Bruno's friendship with Schmuel. Now that we have been watching a lot of films that provoke thinking, I saw that friendship as something more. It was really pure and innocent because Bruno had no clue what the "farms" were doing and Schmuel, was the same age and just sat at the edge of the fence. It showed how despite the social background they came from they were first and foremost children and didn't understand what was going on.This movie shows the innocence of childhood with the backdrop of an extremely guilty time in history.

Briana Arnold said...

This film angered me more than it did in making me sad. I know Bruno was only a young boy but to see his ignorance and almost stupid questions that he asked schmuel upset me because he seemed as though he was a smart enough kid that he could come up with vaugually what was going on at the camps and tell that whom ever was there was not being treated well and they did not enjoy it. It also angered me when Brunno said that he was not Schmuels friend in the dinning room causing Schmuel to get a beating for stealing the food even though Brunno gave it to him. The whole family angered me when they sat at their dinner table and heard the horrid hollers from there servant who was being beaten to death in the next room, even though the mother was upset she didnt make one move to help him, not one of them got up or yelled stop they simply sat there with fear upon their faces yet continuing to go on with their meal. even though i missed the end of this movie i was told that both Schmuel and Brunno were accidently shoved into the gas chambers with a mass crowd killing both of them. I wonder if the ending was what it took for the family to finally realise what was actually going on and to stop their ignorant ways about the whole thing.

Yakov N said...

This movie was incredibly powerful. It played with my emotions on many levels. The death of the two boys was the saddest thing I believe I have ever seen. It was upsetting and I had to take a little bit to wrap my head completely around it. I also was thinking about the scene in the basement with the dolls and I think that the dolls symbolized the way that the people died at the end; packed together like cattle, with no control over their own fate. The movie was powerful, but I doubt I would watch it again.

Preetam Naini (Period 1) said...

The movie we saw in Facing History was an extremely sad one. I saw this movie before in 8th grade, but i didn't feel as emotional because i didn't fully know about the Holocaust. However, seeing this film again was very emotional for me; the two boys who ended up getting killed are a symbol of what the Nazis did to the Jews, they show that no one was spared by these vicious killing factories. To see them getting killed, and not being able to do anything was terrible. The worst part, as Yak said to me after the class, is that we know this happened, but we still can't believe that human beings would do this to other human beings.

Jess Beliveau said...

This film really touched my heart. When the parents of Bruno realized he was inside the concentration camp, I thought to myself, now they understand the pain and anguish Jewish parents faced. Their children had to suffer, their family had to suffer, and their culture had to. Those parents got a taste of what they were dishing out. It's a tragedy that for them to understand the evil acts they were carrying out a beautiful innocent little boy had to die. That should never happen. The Holocaust was millions of innocent people being killed. I think it is the worst thing to happen in our world's history. This movie was emotional and really proved that point.

Justin Cole said...

None of the movies we've watched in class so far this year have drawn out an emotional response from me as strong as did The Boy In the Striped Pajamas. It intelligently illustrated how easily millions of Germans were controlled and kept in place through the careful use of brainwashing and propaganda. The movie also cleverly and socratically examined every aspect of the Nazi's constant bombardment of propaganda through the perspective of the main character, an eight-year-old boy named Bruno. He, being the son of an SS officer in charge of a concentration camp, provided a unique perspective into the Holocaust never really examined before in class. Nothing tore me up more than the ending of the movie, though. I half-expected a Disney ending where Bruno and Schmuel would live on and be friends forever and ever, but all we were left with was a hollow silence and a sealed door. That final scene was the most haunting in the entire movie.

Robby Doretti said...

This movie was very hard to watch because of everything that happened with Bruno and how he found out about what teh concentration camps were actually about and what his father did. It was really sad to see how Bruno interacted with schmuel and didn't understand the horrors of the otherside of the fence. It must have been very hard to live in a family right next to a concentration camp, smelling the crematoriums and not understanding anything. It was also very sad to see how Bruno went to help Schmeul and then he ended up getting gassed to death which showed the real horror of the camps. It was a very sad movie and really hard to watch, especially in the end.

amos omeler said...

It was sad to see how this little boy lost his life and he didn't even no what he was getting his self into. But the parents were wrong for bringing the kids to that house and knowing that the camp was there.

Mara Frumkin said...

Heart-breaking. My mom and I have discussed this film before, and the book as well. We both think that it is all the more heart-breaking to see a German boy get gassed. It is horrible in itself, but the fact that this Nazi gassed his own son really shows the horrid, heartless aspect of the Holocaust. It makes it worse that these are adorable little children. "Oh it's just a shower". They had no idea... I think that this film was done in such a way that it really takes a toll on everyone watching it. I have to admit, I have never cried so hard at a movie before. There really aren't words to describe what I thought of the movie. It really does stick with you.

Ari Lazarine said...

Absolutely sickening, wrenching, numbing. When I chose to take this course, I truly thought I knew how hard it was going to be. After this film, I was left literally shaking as I thought about what went through everyones minds as the door was sealed and the pelets were dropped on top of them. Bruno had absolutely no idea of what his father was a part of. He thought it was a game! The terror I felt for Schmuel when Bruno did not stand up for him was unbearable. I was angry, even vengeful. Disgusted by the way Bruno's sister was melted and recast as a little Nazi. Shattered by the howls of Bruno's mother as she realized what happened. She knew exactly what the farm was. A slaughterhouse. And now her son, her curious, adventurous, trusting son, was slaughtered by the very farm of death that her husband cared so much about. All of these things I felt, flung into anger and wrenched into absolute nothingness.

Alli Olejarz (Period 1) said...

I thought the boy in the stripped pajamas was a very good movie, although it was extremely sad. the movie has a very good plot line and showed how horrible things can become for people during the holocaust, even if they were in the nazi party. the character Pavo was a Jewish doctor who was forced into labor and was treated horribly by everyone, including the family of Bruno. it was so sad that Pavo was treated to badly even though he was so obedient and kind. i wanted to cry when Bruno's dad's driver beat him to death for accidentally spilling the wine. he was so kind and cleaned Bruno's cuts. i loved how innocent and nieve Bruno was about the concentration camps and how he formed such a real friendship with Schmuel even though he was Jewish.