The boy in the striped pyjamas

I had read the review in the local DNA; I knew it would be a great watch. It was there at the rental store, and always postponed thinking it would be documentary. I had just watched ‘Turtles can Fly’ on Thursday, and this was I guess the continuation of the spirit.
Bruno and Shmuel are friends, when they were supposed to be enemies. Shmuel is supposed to be evil and everything which is wrong, but Bruno finds him just like any other kid. Pavel, Bruno feels, can’t make his mind and wants to peel potatoes though he was a doctor before coming to the ‘farm’. The farm is no farm, but a camp. Bruno’s sister has dumped all her dolls in the cellar and has taken instant liking for German history and the current affairs. Bruno asks a lot of questions which are perfectly more sane and sensible while the adults esp. his father seem to have completely been blinded by reason and duty. Bruno’s mother rejection of her husband’s acts, his sister’s patriotism, his friendship with Shmuel, Pavel peeling potatoes and many other sub plots add to the layers of the cinema.
The DVD was not playing on my Sony DVD player, because of region constraints. I was watching in my flat-mates room on his DVD, and his girlfriend happened to join us about the time was getting over. She said someone she knew, ‘who bhi aisi movies dektha hai’, meaning, ‘he too watches such movies’. At an instant it dawned on me that not all consider these movies like ‘The boy in the striped pyjamas’ as to be movies or common people or that it’s mainstream. The definition of cinema is gravely dependent on the viewer; and this I guess is a matter of taste which you acquire or work towards to acquire.