and no it wasn't about a Sunderland fan found wandering dazed after another battering...
Excellent film. A reflection on childhood, but with a difference, no kestrels to be seen! The boys whose lives come together in 1938, just after the Kristallnacht (literally 'crystal night' which refers to the sound of breaking glass, in the shop windows of Jewish businesses) one the son of a German commander of a concentration camp, the other a Jewish prisoner. The boys are both 11 years old and trying to make sense of the new situations they find themselves in. I can't say too much, except Mark Herman's direction is spot on, the story is not allowed to drift into mawkishness or sentimentality, the acting is pitched just right Vera Farminga is beautiful as well as talented, there is a good script and supporting actors do a sound job. Apparently the book by John Boyne is good too. I can't say too much because I don't want to give anything away about the ending...nuff said.
Hope that satisfies the movie buffs and Stuart.
Barry