The Book Thief: Movie Analysis

I’ve never read Markus Zusak’s 2006 historical-fiction novel The Book Thief, though I’ve seen and heard many of my friends obsesses over the World War II-set coming of age drama, which spent more than 230 weeks atop The New York Time’s bestseller list. Narrated by Death, Thief is the story of Liesel Meminger, a young German foster child who is taken in by Hans and Rosa Hubermann, a lovingly aged couple who end up hiding a Jew in their basement as the Nazi regime takes control of the country. I was a passionate fan of the book that I really like and I remember that this movie is dedicated to the people of world war 2, stopping after a chapter or two and taking a few deep breathes to clear my mind from the dark subject matter. sigh, “It’s

All the settings appear movie-set-ready and nothing about the look of the film provides the grit we’ve come to expect from similar movies set in this time. And while it’s true that the film is tied into a nice little bow in terms of tone (it’s clear the studio wants this to be a controversy-free drama the entire family can see throughout the holiday season), the events are always presented through Liesel’s doe-eyed curiosity, so it somehow make sense that the look of the film is so clear cut and tidy. This is, after all, a 13-year-old’s perspective of World War II and all the perfectly dangling Nazi flags should look like dramatic, bold red carpets in the mind of an imaginative young girl who is looking to the world to heal her familial wounds. Everything feels and looks incredibly perfect – even James Newton Howard’s nuanced score comes on just at the right sentimental moment – though that’s exactly how the optimistic Liesel views the world and it makes the film version’s toning down of the source material’s heavy nature something that can be artistically justified. While you wish this cleanness would crack as the events of WWII become more severe, it’s clear this film is catering to all audiences and you can’t be too hard on it for playing

Even the main story about hiding Max (Ben Schnetzer) in the basement is short-shifted, though it does lead to quite the tense moment when a Nazi officer unexpectedly shows up to search the house. Though it jumps from one event to the next like a checklist, the film never feels over done or short on emotion because the cast constantly allows you to feel the emotions such events take on their characters. Even the young Nico Liersch uses his somewhat short screen time as Rudy to expertly depict how innocence is lost in the darkest of times. Ultimately, The Book Thief succeeds on the strength of its cast and no matter how one enjoys this overtly safe adaptation it’s almost impossible not to feel for the characters involved. In terms of Holiday family films, this impressive cast has delivered a nice little emotional gift. For the many children too young for Schindler’s List, The Book Thief makes for an effective introduction to this horrific period in