The Holocaust is an issue that has been tackled repeatedly through film, be it in black and white or told from the perspective of someone who was actually there. It is almost cruelly logical to then assume that the latest film documenting this event would come from a different source to previous attempts to tackle the subject. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is told through the eyes of Bruno, the son of the Kommandant of an unc!assified concentration camp. This fresh perspective, one of innocence and unknowing is what separates the film from most war films let alone Holocaust dramas and its final, eventual end packs just as much punch as any film before it.

Attempting to explain the weight of the Holocaust through film is a hard enough task and there is always the risk that you will overbear its effects. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is in the very unique position of never having to walk that fine line. Told through Bruno, the feelings of anti-Semitism and the unjust are only passively mentioned in the early parts of the film- there are multiple shots of Jews being moved out of their houses in Berlin but this soon cuts away as we follow Bruno playing a game that passes through the deportations. Later on in the film the subject matter is tackled more strongly as the issues of his fathers owns prejudices and the people around him are exposed due to the reliance the new household has on Jewish workers. Though Bruno's knowledge of anti-Semitism is steadily increased the knowledge of the concentration camp itself is heavily kept secret throughout almost all of the film. The innocence Bruno exhibits while asking Shmuel about the "farm" he is living in has a bitter kick in it that continues throughout the film. Even when Bruno eventually finds out that the place really is a concentration camp the questions he asks (particularly regarding the crematoria and the location of Shmuel's father) are still uncomfortable to see being asked.

While perspective wise the film retains a fairly original position, in terms of characters the film maintains almost Holocaust genre stereotypes. Bruno himself is the typical child hero; totally innocent, a natural explorer, relatively quick minded. His sister too is the familiar Hitler Youth offspring; her early collection of dolls, cast away in the early portions of the film due to "dolls being only for little girls". As the Kommandant of the camp, Bruno's father is particularly anti-Semitic and although his contrasting affection to Bruno is expected, the films conclusion results in the Kommandant himself having the biggest life lesson to learn. Bruno's mother plays the role of the vaguely innocent parent, who knows and follows through on the anti-Jewish requirements until she suddenly u-turns thanks to an act of kindness by a Jewish man and her discovery of what the camp was really for. While none of these characters are really given any leeway to show off until the end the character of Lieutenant Kotler, the again stereotypical screaming Nazi Jew hater, is one that even within the confides of such an established typecast is still terrifying to watch. Actor Rupert Friend deserves perhaps more credit than any other side character in the movie-though I would be perhaps too scared to tell him that.

The two principle leads of Bruno and Shmuel (played by Asa Butterfield and Jack Scanlon respectively) are the soul of the film however and as they are the main characters it is a relief that they are acted superbly. Both manage to portray the sense of innocence required for the film without the feeling of stupidity that occasionally comes across from child stars. Their friendship is the real meat of the film however and although their innocence is the crux of the films weight, it is in their friendship that the nature of the Holocausts injustice is so horrifically felt. The two feel like twins; their personalities are perfectly matched and they both seem to enjoy the same things and in a normal world they would no doubt be the best of friends, but can't thanks to Nazi beliefs that the two were so incompatible. Indeed, these childlike realisations of hypocrisy are felt elsewhere in the film. It would be ruinous to mention these now, but let's just say that Nazi ideals that the Jew was so easily identifiable from the Aryan are proven to be certainly false. Such realisations are never forced down your throats and throughout the film Bruno never openly retorts the anti-Semitic ways, he simply doesn't understand them and chooses to simply ignore them as a result. His non-judgemental nature manages to keep the films innocence alive, even when you think the film could potentially detour off into the preachy nature of children always knowing right from wrong better than adults.

Unlike most Holocaust films The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas requires the viewer to suspend belief for portions of the film. Several instances: such as the apparent lack of guards patrolling the perimeter fences, the lack of knowledge that Shmuel is away for large portions of his work detail and the apparent ease it is that these two boys can get so close to each other are all surrealisms that are necessary if the films premise is to be workable at all. The use of very British actors and therefore accents, while a welcome change from the American dirge that so often occurs in such films, is still off key for such a film-and although inevitably none of these features detract from the weight of the films final scenes, much of the earlier portions of the film will be spent fighting off such contradictions.

The Holocaust is reported to be the most cinema treated moment in film history and there are some who may dismiss The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas as lightweight entry to such a series. While it's insular perspective and childlike approach may cause some to cast it off in favour of grander sweeping accounts such as Schindler's List that would be entirely missing the point. While small in stature the films emotional punch is one very different from the likes of The Pianist and although its cinematography may not be as inspired as the aforementioned when you ultimately come down to it a film of this nature is judged on the success it has on making the viewer feel some emotional weight towards either the subject matter, or its characters. And if you were looking for a defining picture of the Holocaust you would need to look no further than the last shot of this movie-the slow creep back of the camera, to reveal the discarded striped suites of hundreds of Jewish workers. The bolted door at the centre of the shot, deafeningly quiet-marking their final resting place.