Plot
While subjected to the horrors of WWII Germany, young Liesel finds solace by stealing books and sharing them with others. Under the stairs in her home, a Jewish refuge is being sheltered by her adoptive parents.
Release Year: 2013
Rating: 6.2/10 (467 voted)
Critic's Score: /100
Director: Brian Percival
Stars: Sophie Nélisse, Geoffrey Rush, Emily Watson
Storyline
The 550-page, World War II-era novel, narrated by Death, tells the story of Liesel Meminger from the time she is taken at age 9 to live with a foster family in a German working-class neighborhood. Liesel arrives having just stolen her first book, "The Gravediggers Handbook" -- it will be the beginning of a love affair with books.
Writers: Markus Zusak, Michael Petroni
Cast: Geoffrey Rush -
Hans Hubermann
Emily Watson -
Rosa Hubermann
Sophie Nélisse -
Liesel Meminger
Ben Schnetzer -
Max Vandenburg
Nico Liersch -
Rudy Steiner
Sandra Nedeleff -
Sarah
Kirsten Block -
Frau Heinrich
Joachim Paul Assböck -
SS Officer
Matthias Matschke -
Wolfgang Edel
Carina N. Wiese -
Barbara Steiner
Hildegard Schroedter -
Frau Becker
Ludger Bökelmann -
Rafael Gareisen -
Walter
Gotthard Lange -
Gravedigger
Martin Ontrop -
Herr Lehmann
Taglines:
From the Studio that brought you The Life of Pi
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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