The National Lottie

Thanks to Movies.ie and Mr. Ben, I went to see the World Premiere of The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas last night (earlier today).

Having never read the book, I knew very little of the story other than it was set in Nazi Germany and it was a story of friendship between a work-camp Jew and a Nazi Soldier’s son.   To be perfectly honest, I wasn’t too pushed on going. The book has been on my “to read” list for such a long time now and I wanted to give that a go first. But free tickets and an empty calander got the better of my patience.

The Red Carpet

This was my first time on a bona fide red carpet at a première and I was totally under dressed for the event. After a little confusion about which way we walk in the ushers spied our tickets and ushered us (as they do) onto the red carpet.  The TV3 and 98FM crew sensing new souls in town raised their cameras, readied their microphones and then groaned with disappointment as they saw the bunch of nobodies approach. I flaunted my best look-at-me smile, pirouetted a little and took a bow and…nothing. I think there was an audible groan.  Next time, I am so wearing dark glasses and my scarf in a total “I vant to be alone” fashion.

The Savoy

As a kid I remember running enthusiastically to the front rows of the cinema, last night, I was pushed reluctantly into the fifth row from the front (An entire 65 rows away from Ray D’Arcy). I immediately went into “moan” mode. I floundered about for my glasses, bitching and moaning about how I didn’t really need my corneas but hey – free laser eye surgery…

Following the brief* introductory speech from a few people, including Ry(aw)n Tubridy (*I flash back to Twenty’s post yesterday about the the evils of our world “Floods. Gangland crime. Hospital waiting lists. MRSA. The continued existence of Ryan Tubridy”) the film began. After a few minutes I realised that it was not an odd filming techniques but a combination of the curve of the Savoys Screen with sitting too close to the front that was making the scenes lean to the left.  I took off my right shoe and everything was resolved. I can’t bring myself to rob his jokes.

The Movie

Despite my early protests I fell into the movie instantly. Others will review the film much better than I can ever do but I will say that it fitted together beautifully (“beautifully” - a word I despise in film reviews) and not having read the book, I imagine that it did it justice. The jewel of the film for me was Vera Fermagia playing Bruno’s mother. She was the absolute heart of all that was not said and although her dialogue is not huge, her face said everything that needed to be said. Without giving too much away, it was her cries that broke the banks that finally gave way to my river of tears.

One of my favourite moments of the film was so universal. The moment when two children happen upon that undeniable moment of realisation that will bond them as friends for life – they discovery that they are both 8.  I can imagine that the friendship portrayed in words of John Boyne’s novel go far deeper than an hour and a half film could possibly achieve but as the author said himself on closing, he felt that Director Mark Herman maintained the dignity and spirit of the book.

I highly recommend going to see this even if it as I would say “not my type of film”. And by the way if Movies.ie are looking for someone to go to L.A and interview John Travolta – I’ll quite happily be your dog.

On a final note, if there is anyone looking for a reasonably priced trip to Lanzarote in the coming weeks, let Hairy Fish know.

This entry was posted on Friday, September 5th, 2008 at 1:49 am and is filed under Blog, Movies, We own the Night. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.