New film, new festival

I realise that technically I've not yet finished my write-up of the Galway Film Fleadh (you'd forgotten I still had one short and one non-festival film to go?) but it'll have to wait.

You see, my home town of Dunfermline recently kicked off their first Carnegie Festival, which included a strand devoted to film. Now, granted, it's only a small-scale affair compared to most of the film festivals I attend, but with a dedication to both my hometown and film festivals it would be remiss of me not to cover it.

And so it was that I attended their first ever screening last night, a premiere of THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PYJAMAS. It's an adaptation of the novel by John Boyne and it's coming to UK cinemas next month. While not quite a sell out, the film was well attended and seemed to go down well with most of the audience. This I only garnered from chat afterwards mind you, as the film left everyone numbed and silent.

You see, if you've not already heard about it, it's a story of a boy in Nazi Germany who moves into the country to be near his dad's work (his dad being a commandant at a "work camp") and strikes up an unlikely friendship with a Jewish boy who lives on the other side of the fence.

I'll get the film's problems out the way first. For one thing, there's the problem that afflicts a great many war films (and this may vary between viewers, perhaps it's just me) and that is the idea of Germans being played by people with posh English accents. It takes a bit of getting used to.

Secondly, the film is anchored around a child, which is always a risky premise. The down side is that the boys' performances are just a tad too syrupy and goody-goody for my liking; the positives are that they are at least competent actors and do not have a negative impact on the film as a whole.

On the up side, the majority of the acting is first rate. David Thewlis is the commandant; Vera Farmiga (of THE DEPARTED and JOSHUA, and possessor of the sexiest eyes in Hollywood) is his wife. Both are good but the standout (and I'm not just saying this because he's Scottish) is the always reliable David Hayman (A SENSE OF FREEDOM, SMALL ENGINE REPAIR) as a Jewish servant.

It's also beautifully shot and the score by James Horner is hardly original but definitely effective.
Beyond this, I can't say much for fear of spoiling the film for anyone who, like me, has never read the book. Suffice to say that I was pleasantly surprised by the direction it took, but it's certainly not an uplifting tale of whimsical childhood antics.

Oh yeah, and I think I saw one of my old English teachers there too.