I can imagine The Boy in Striped Pajamas (which was produced by BBC Films in the UK) being pitched to an American studio.  I can hear the U.S. producers mocking the ending, demanding it be changed - ultimately destroying everything the film has to say...

Luckily, the BBC has a bit more sense, and let this one be.  What results is a breathtaking tale of innocence and horror that leaves the theater dead silent as the credits roll. 

The genius of the film is the blurring of the antagonist role.  In one scene, the violent soldier plays the role of protagonist.  But in the next, he is belittled by his commanding officer and given real depth, made sympathetic.  It’s this delicate balance stricken by writer/director Mark Herman that makes The Boy in Striped Pajamas captivating to watch.  For Holocaust movies are far from fresh.  From Schindler’s List to Downfall to Life is Beautiful, we’ve seen the Holocaust from every imaginable angle.  But then along comes a film like this that proves freshness is possible even amongst subject matter before done.

Watching this film, I cared about every character.  The weak-minded daughter who swallows what she is fed without question, the ambitious father who abandons his principles, the principled grandmother who will not submit, the angry wife who loses her mind at the moral ubiquity...  And of course, the innocent child trying to make his own sense of the situation.

Just go.  And bring some tissues...