Taking a different spin on Nazi Germany during the early years of World War two, The Book Thief follows the journey of a nine-year-old German girl, Liesel Meminger, as she moves to Molching, Germany, to live with her foster parents Hans and Rosa Hubermann. She befriends the neighbor boy, Rudy Steiner, a boy with “hair the color of lemons” who is always asking for a kiss, and Max, a Jewish man the Hubermanns hide in their basement.
Narrated not by a character in the story, but by death itself, the story starts off in a more melancholy tone and puts the case of Nazi Germany into a different perspective than is usually examined. The Hubermann family, while being of 100% German blood, are still sympathetic with the Jewish people and do not feel as though what Hitler is doing is right, although they are forced to comply with certain laws in order to save their own lives.
The title The Book Thief comes from Liesel’s interest in learning how to read, and her hobby of stealing books, whether they be from a gravedigger’s apprentice or the library of the mayor’s wife.
At first I thought that this movie was going to be another WW2 story about a concentration camp, or someone forced to go into hiding. I was very wrong. The storyline is something never yet conceived of in this genre of film, and it gives a nice, refreshing perspective on the German people that I think a lot of people don’t remember when they think of this time period. It reminds us that they were human.
The characters have their own distinct personalities that make them all the more relatable to your life. It’s almost as if you can go Oh I know someone just like Rosa or Rudy reminds me so much of… The character Rudy Steiner, played by actor Nico Liersch, drew me in immediately. He had the a way of taking the war and all the complex parts and simplifying it as a child’s mind would, yet understanding it completely at the same time. And he still had the charming way of always trying to get a kiss from Liesel, no matter how many times she said no.
And Liesel herself. Played by French-Canadian actress Sophie Nelisse, Liesel transformed as the story played out into an almost unrecognizable person in the end. Starting as an uneducated, foster child of originally Communist parents, Sophie was able to flawlessly make the transition into the mature Liesel that appears in the ending scenes of the movie. Always determined, she used her love of reading and books to forge a lifelong friendship with the Jewish man, Max, whom was being harbored in their basement, and connect her community together during the beginning of the war.
I could go on and on about this film, but it is impossible to get the full effect from reading a review. I would recommend to go and IMMEDIATELY rent this movie, or even better, read the book (I have done both). Not only just to have the enjoyment of this wonderful movie, but so that I can finally have someone to discuss it with!
Review by Briana Wojcik
Photos from imdb.com and goodread.com
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