I saw this film with my movie buddy Rochelle and the both of us had no idea what it was about. I only knew that it was based on a book and for some reason I figured that, and the poster of the little girl clutching a book, meant that it was some sort of fantasy epic, ala Harry Potter.

Here’s my round up of Brian Percival (About A Girl)’s The Book Thief (2014).

Please note that there may be spoilers. Read at your own risk.

THE STORY:

The film is set in pre-World War II Germany, in the very provincial Heaven Street, where young Liesl Memimger (Sophie Nelisse) is deposited into the care of warm and gentle Hans Hubermann (Geoffrey Rush – Pirates of the Caribbean) and his cold and practical wife Rosa (Emily Watson – Red Dragon). She was supposed to come with her little brother (Julian Lehmann) but he died in transit on the train. In the new house, Liesl has to come into terms with her grief at losing her beloved brother, the abandonment of her real mother and acceptance of how her life drastically changes forever with her new family. She takes solace in her new found skill of reading, which Hans patiently taught her how to do, and in the friendship of next door neighbor Rudy Steiner (Nico Liersch). Shortly after, Germany engages in a world war and Liesl and her family are thrown in grave danger when Max (Ben Schnetzer), the Jewish son of the man that Hans owes his life to, arrives at their doorstep begging for help.

THE GOOD:

1. All the scenes with the accordion. Seriously. All. Scenes. I probably teared up during every single one of them.
2. Geoffrey Rush not being skeevy. Because with a face like that and the amount of scenes with a very young girl, it is very, very easy to be skeevy. Props for keeping it clean and the vibe strictly paternal.
   
3. Rudy. The character was a perfect symbol for purity and childhood innocence. I am also wowed by the character’s bravery for letting it all hang out there – not even ten minutes into the film he’s showed his hand as to how exactly he’s interested in Liesl. Props also to the actor for being so cute!
   
4. The Age-Appropriate Wardrobe. Because of the hair, I’m assuming that they filmed the sequences backwards and since the main characters are people going through puberty, I have great respect for this film’s wardrobe department because in the beginning of the movie, when all the actors are at their oldest, the kids really did look to be twelve year olds.
   
5. The Accent. They all totally committed and that made the experience that much richer.

THE BAD:

1. Rudy’s death scene. Come on, that cliche was so totally uncalled for an insult to the great character that was Rudy.
2. That there was no follow up to Max’s story. I mean, how did he survive? I’m emotionally invested with the character to wonder how he did it. I mean, I’d have been okay with a montage.
   
3. Could’ve used a bit more book thievery. There were so few!

THE UGLY:

1. The film’s tendency to be dragging at times. Given the point they’re trying to make, I think the film could’ve afforded to shave off at least a good ten minutes off the final reel. Or at least add more of the scenes of the people huddled under the bunkers, since that apparently was a major plot point.
2. The lack of the narrator’s presence. I’m nit-picking here but I think I would’ve preferred to have seen a corporeal hand reach out and touch Rosa during the voice over “Rosa I caught mid-snore”, because I liked the effect of the narrator walking down Heaven Street right before the bombing.

All in all The Book Thief was a very graceful movie and it hits all the right spots emotionally. The musical scores, courtesy of the genius that is John Williams, were poignant and helps underline the struggles that non-Nazi Germans had to go through during the war. In this day and age where almost all angles of the World War have been explored to death, this was a welcome and refreshing surprise because yes, not all Germans were evil Nazi bastards.

THE VERDICT: 7.6/10. See it.

*All photos are lifted from the film’s IMDB page.