It's Nazi Germany. Swastika's are scattered over buildings, they accompany posters heralding Adolf Hitler, but the violence that is so synonymous with the Nazi era is missing. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas opens by leading you to believe that nothing, really is wrong.
In fact, it's quite picturesque. The people are happy. Bruno, the son of a commandant in the German army, is a happy child of eight that could spend his days reading adventure novels. His world of fantasy is shaken, however, when his father is given a promotion: to be stationed on the outskirts of Germany and put in charge of a concentration camp.
Bruno, being an eight year old boy, with no comprehesion of the created societal rules and regulations, befriends a boy his age from across the fence of the camp. After several offerings of leftover sandwiches and chocolate, and a internal struggle on their boundaries as friends, a final choice is made that will change their lives and the lives of Bruno's parents, forever.
It turns out that this perfect life is an illusion that only a young boy can have. It is all sunny skies, until the end when realization hits and thunder strikes. The message is not that Bruno is confused, but that the adult actions are too difficult to understand--or rather, should not be understood to be right.
The film is not for the weak at heart. But it does send a beautiful message boiling over with irony: the kids seem to have to best understanding of love.
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