The Book Thief

This review may contain spoilers.

This movie opened my eyes to the power of words and the darkness of Hitler's totalitarian regime in ways that moved me wholeheartedly. I would absolutely give The Book Thief 8/10.

As far as plot goes this is one that closely scrutinises Hitler's regime through a very human and morally good standpoint. It made me realise that Nazi Germany did not describe very person within Germany at that time. There was a scene in this movie in which a father leaves his family behind to go and fight for Hitler and Germany, that scene is what made me realise I can never truly appreciate the scope of our history and tragedy.

Sophie Nelisse, who played Liesel, was astounding and one of the best child actors I've seen so far this year. Alongside her was Nico Liersch, who played Rudy, and was another fantastic child actor. Emily Watson, who played Rosa, was a character I wanted to not like a lot of the time which is to the actress's credit but whenever this character went through emotional turmoil such as Hans being enlisted it would hit hard. Ben Schnetzer, who played Max, graced the screen with some of the best lines in the entire film and the lines he spoke mattered to me I felt. Roger Allam, who voiced Death, was simply fascinating and really made the biggest deal of difference upon the film itself.

However one actor stood out for me above the rest and that was Geoffrey Rush, who played Hans. This character brought the life and comedy to the film but also the scrutiny by which we saw Nazi Germany. His character's journey is one I found myself most invested in and was never bored by for a second.

As far as criticisms for this film go I guess pacing may have been an issue. The movie did feel slow at points, even to the extent it could be found boring. I also feel the narration by Death became too sparse so that you forgot his narration was a part of the plot.

Normally I'd end on a criticism but I thought I might add a little footnote here on something this film made me think about. Books are important, the written word is so very very important. Yeah we live in a world of technology these days that words on paper seem redundant but the truth is I could not live in a world without books. Books are an escape, a new world in each and every one and I'm amazed by what new marvels I can find in another person's imagination. I personally feel that putting your own words to a page is the most creative and freeing thing there is, to escape into a world that you make, to fall into a web of your own imagination is a glorious thing and it's something this movie reminded me of. Go see The Book thief, I highly recommend it.