<P> The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (released as The Boy in the Striped Pajamas in the United States; see spelling differences) is a 2008 British - American historical period drama based on the novel of the same name by Irish writer John Boyne . Directed by Mark Herman, produced by BBC Films and Heyday Films, and distributed by Miramax (North America) and Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures (International), the film stars Vera Farmiga, David Thewlis, Asa Butterfield, and Jack Scanlon . It was released on 12 September 2008 in the United Kingdom . </P> <P> The Holocaust drama explores the horror of a World War II Nazi extermination camp through the eyes of two 8 - year - old boys; Bruno (Butterfield), the son of the camp's Nazi commandant, and Shmuel (Scanlon), a Jewish inmate . </P> <P> The film opens with the quote "Childhood is measured out by sounds and smells and sights, before the dark hour of reason grows ." by John Betjeman . A young boy named Bruno (Asa Butterfield) lives with his family in Berlin, in Nazi Germany during the Holocaust . He learns that his father Ralf (David Thewlis) has been promoted, due to which their family, including Bruno's mother Elsa (Vera Farmiga) and sister Gretel (Amber Beattie), relocate to the countryside . Bruno hates his new home as there is no one to play with and very little to explore . After commenting that he has spotted people working on what he thinks is a farm in the distance, he is also forbidden from playing in the back garden . </P> <P> Bruno and Gretel get a private tutor, Herr Liszt (Jim Norton), who pushes an agenda of antisemitism and nationalist propaganda . As a result, Gretel becomes extremely fanatical in her support for the Third Reich, to the point of covering her bedroom wall with Nazi propaganda posters . Bruno is confused as the Jews he has seen, in particular the family's Jewish servant Pavel (David Hayman), do not resemble the caricatures in Liszt's teachings . </P>

Who plays bruno in the boy in the striped pajamas