Not recommended under 13, PG to 15 due to holocaust themes and disturbing scenes.
This topic contains:
Children under 13 | Children under 13 Not recommended due to themes and disturbing scenes |
Children aged 13-15 | Parental guidance recommended due to themes |
This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.
Name of movie: | Boy in the Striped Pajamas, The |
Classification: | M |
Consumer advice lines: | Holocaust themes |
Length: | 94 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
Bruno (Asa Butterfield) is an eight-year-old boy who lives in Berlin with his sister Gretel (Amber Beattie) and his parents( Vera Farmiga and David Thewliss) at the time of World War 11. His father is an SS officer who, when he’s given a promotion to Commandant, is required to move his family to the country. Bruno is sad to leave his friends behind and finds the new house very isolating. He isn’t allowed outside his front garden and when he enquires why the ‘funny’ farmers at the neighbouring farm wear pyjamas, his bedroom window is barricaded.
Bruno eventually finds his way to the back of the house and into the freedom of the forest beyond. There he meets Shmuel (Jack Scanlon) sitting behind a barbed wire fence, looking sad and bedraggled and also wearing pyjamas. The two boys become friends although Bruno can’t understand why Shmuel can’t come over onto his side of the fence to play. They meet regularly and Bruno takes food to share with Shmuel who’s always hungry. When Shmuel’s Dad goes missing Bruno promises to help Shmuel find him. Shmuel finds a pair of pyjamas for Bruno to wear, he then digs under the fence and together they go looking for Shmuel’s father. What happens next is frighteningly unexpected.
Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.
War; holocaust; concentration camps.
Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.
Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.
There is some violence in this movie including:
Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.
In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of five, including the following:
Children aged five to eight will also be frightened by scary visual images and will also be disturbed by depictions of the death of a parent, a child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.
Children in this age group are also likely to be disturbed by the above-mentioned violent scenes.
Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.
In addition to the above mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could disturb children aged eight to thirteen, including the following:
Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult.
Children in this age group are likely to be disturbed by the movie’s themes
None of concern
None of concern
None of concern
There is some use of substances in this movie, including:
None of concern
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is a drama about the Holocaust shown through the eyes of an innocent eight-year-old boy.
The main message from this movie is the total injustice of hatred and prejudice against people due to their race or religion.
Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:
This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:
Tip: Leave out the first A, An or The
Selecting an age will provide a list of movies with content suitable for this age group. Children may also enjoy movies selected via a lower age.
Content is age appropriate for children this age
Some content may not be appropriate for children this age. Parental guidance recommended
Content is not age appropriate for children this age
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