The Book Thief (2013) 7/10

Starring : Sophie Nelisse, Geoffrey Rush, Emily Watson, Ben Schnetzer, Nico Liersch, Roger Allam
Director : Brian Percival
Running Time : 130 mins

In the late 1930s, Liesel Meminger (Nelisse) is sent to stay with an adoptive family in Nazi Germany and soon learns a love for books thanks to her adoptive father Hans (Rush). She soon starts stealing books to feed her new hunger for reading while questioning Hitler’s regime when she meets Max (Schnetzer), a young Jew who is hiding in her adoptive parent’s basement.

This World War II drama at times feels like it is aimed at children, but then kind of meanders into other avenues that don’t fit in with the tone. The fact that everyone seems so nice in this (other than the Nazis of course) makes it feel a little realistic – even Watson’s role as a horrible foster mother softens towards the end. Nothing overtly bad (other than Nazi occupation) happens in the movie until the very end when we are forced to look on and pretty much see everyone die. This does, however, have its moments, and on the whole this is an engaging coming-of-age movie that deals with hardship in an extraordinarily positive light.

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