John Boyne's acclaimed novel 'The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas' explores the atrocities of the holocaust through the eyes of an eight-year-old German boy. The unspeakable is haltingly revealed as the boy's capacity for understanding grows and the beauty of friendship is weighed up against the humanity at its most evil.

In film, this is impossible, and while the film has all the correct elements ? strong performances, beautiful cinematography (Benoit Delhomme), and an evocative score (James Horner) ? it lacks the unique perspective that prevents the book from being just another story about the Holocaust.

That being said, movies are only very rarely better than the books that have inspired them and the fact that the maxim applies in this instance is of little consequence. It is still a fantastic film.

Bruno (Asa Butterfield) is the son of a SS commandant (David Thewlis) who has been transferred from Berlin to run the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in Poland.

Bruno is not happy in his new home. He rarely sees his stern father, his sister Greta (Amber Beattie) is becoming increasingly militant under the tutelage of their Nazi-obsessed tutor (Jim Norton) and the menacing young lieutenant Kurt (Rupert Friend), and his mother (Vera Farmiga) is behaving increasingly strangely.

Sneaking off to explore his surroundings he comes across the perimeter of a 'farm' where everybody wears striped pyjamas. He meets a boy call Shmuel (Jack Scanlon) and the two strike up an unlikely friendship through the fence.

Slowly Bruno begins to re-evaluate his world, his heroes and his understanding of friendship. As his innocence is stripped away, the horrors of war are revealed for what they truly are, without the layers of adult obfuscation. Herman's faithful rendition of the heart-wrenching conclusion gives the film the emotional punch it needs to match the gravitas of the subject matter.

'The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas' may be another Holocaust film, but it is not just another Holocaust film.