Plot
While subjected to the horrors of World War II Germany, young Liesel finds solace by stealing books and sharing them with others. Under the stairs in her home, a Jewish refugee is being sheltered by her adoptive parents.
Release Year: 2013
Rating: 6.1/10 (594 voted)
Director:Brian Percival
Storyline
Based on the beloved bestselling book, THE BOOK THIEF tells the story of a spirited and courageous young girl who transforms the lives of everyone around her when she is sent to live with a foster family in World War II Germany.
First things first: I haven't read the book. This despite the fact that
I've worked in a bookstore for nearly eight years. I've always meant to
read it, but when I won tickets to the Mill Valley Film Festival
premiere, I had less than 24 hours until the screening.
The Book Thief is a wonderful film, nuanced and thoughtful, and buoyed
by strong performances from Geoffrey Rush, Emily Watson, and newcomer
Sophie Nélisse. We watch as Germany falls under the storm of war, the
country slowly descending into madness as we follow one girl who finds
a home in the care of a couple at odds with the Fascist ideologies
sweeping the nation. Soon Liesel (Nélisse) meets Rudy, a neighborhood
boy, and Max, a young Jewish man her new parents must hide in their
basement.
Built around the external drama of the war and its consequences is
Lisel's discovery of reading and books. Words are a valuable commodity
in her ravaged society, and the care paid by the filmmakers and actors
to accentuate the importance of stories to Lisel's survival makes this
movie all the more compelling. The cinematography, editing, and script
are all excellent as well.
In short, The Book Thief is the kind of film you could show your
children as a way to first begin a discussion of World War II and the
Holocaust, but it never takes shortcuts from darker subject matter to
reach this role. An excellent movie.
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