The Book Thief, film review: Dark material but this film plays like a typical coming-of-age story
(12A) Brian Percival, 133 mins Starring: Geoffrey Rush, Emily Watson, Sophie Nélisse, Ben Schnetzer, Nico Liersch
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The Book Thief is a handsomely mounted but strangely pitched adaptation of Markus Zusak's 2005 novel about a young girl in Nazi Germany. The accents grate. Dialogue here is delivered in English but with a Germanic twang and a few German words ("nein!") thrown into the mix. Much of the material is very dark indeed but even against the backcloth of the Holocaust, the film plays like a typical coming-of-age story.
Our narrator is Death himself, voiced by the well-spoken (and non-Germanic) Roger Allam. He is looking down from above the clouds on the trials of the young protagonists. Sophie Nélisse is very impressive as the youthful heroine Liesel Meminger, who at the beginning of the film loses her beloved brother and is given up to impoverished foster parents (Emily Watson and Geoffrey Rush).
The film-making style seems disconcertingly glossy given the downbeat themes. There is picturesque imagery of steam-belching trains crossing snowy landscapes and of kids playing in the streets. We see beatific- looking children singing in school choirs even as Nazis are smashing windows and burning books in the streets nearby. The swirling John Williams score and unabashed sentimentality don't help a film that would surely have benefitted from taking a tougher approach.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments