Yet Another Sappy Holocaust Film - THE BOOK THIEF

THE BOOK THIEF
2013 - 131 minutes - Drama/War
Director: Brian Percival
Country: United States/Germany
IMDB: 7.4
Metacritic: 53
RT: 49%

CinemaChagrin's Rating: C+

Watch this movie if you enjoy:

• Geoffrey Rush or Emily Watson
• Excellent cinematography
• Gorgeous use of color

Avoid this movie if you dislike:

• Ridiculous accents and strange language selections
• Sterilized depictions of war and death
• Slow, episodic pacing

Disclaimer: I have not read the novel by Markus Zusak (The Book Thief) upon which this film is based.

The Book Thief is okay. Just okay. Not great, not terrible, just average. Fans of the book should probably go see it to satisfy their curiosity, but I cannot say if the film serves as a faithful adaptation. Those who have not read the book probably shouldn't bother with going to see the film in theaters. If you're interested in Holocaust tales or the lead actors in The Book Thief, wait until it comes out online or DVD rental - it's not worth the price of a movie ticket.

The film focuses on the life of a young orphan named Liesel Meminger (played by an excellent Sophie Nelisse) who at the beginning of the story is adopted by the Hubermann household. Liesel quickly warms to her new papa, the benevolent Hans Hubermann (Geoffrey Rush), an unemployed painter. In contrast, her adoptive mother Rosa treats Liesel with contempt for a long while before finally warming up to her. The film chronicles their life before and during Germany's entrance into World War II and specifically revolves around the family sheltering a Jew in their basement.

Sophie Nelisse as Liesel Meminger

I'll start with what the film does well. Despite mostly mixed reviews overall, The Book Thief looks absolutely gorgeous. Director Brian Percival (best known by his work on Downton Abbey) has crafted a film that is very pleasant to look at. The camera moves austerely and deliberately, allowing the viewer to focus on interactions between characters. The cinematography features an excellent blend between personal close-ups and sweeping shots of both wintry and summer landscapes of the German countryside. The setting (shot on location in a small town in Germany) lends authenticity to the narrative and is quite beautiful in its own right. Also of note is the absolutely phenomenal use of color in the film. Blood red Nazi flags dot the small town where the Hubermanns live, children frolic through vibrant autumn forests, and steam billows out of trains rushing across the snow-covered wilderness. Despite all the other issues plaguing The Book Thief, it is a pleasure to look at.

In the bomb shelter

Aside from the stellar visuals, the acting also impressed me (for the most part). I love Geoffrey Rush, and he certainly did not disappoint (though his German accent was jarring - more on that later). Emily Watson also put on a fine performance as the strong caretaker who appears icy on the outside but actually has a heart deep down. I was particularly impressed by newcomer Sophie Nelisse, a 12-year old French-Canadian actress. Acting in a second language (English) with a German accent is no small feat even for seasoned actors, and newcomer Nelisse did a fine job, emoting childlike exuberance and tragic sorrow equally well. The rest of the cast were competent, if not spectacular. Many of the supporting actors (who I suppose were German) spoke their lines in a somewhat stilted manner, which brings me to my next point. 

Hans Hubermann (Rush) and Liesel (Nelisse) embrace following his return from war

Unfortunately, Americans are infamous for their intense dislike of subtitles. I understand that making a movie intended primarily for the US market in a language other than English is financial suicide. Nevertheless, the language choices and accents in this film irritated me to no end. The characters were all German, yet they all spoke English (with varying degrees of German accents, since not all of the actors were German); however, their speech patterns were riddled with German words, such as "ja", "nein", "und", "danke", etc... Additionally, certain characters spoke German throughout the movie. The book burning scene had the Nazi spokesman screaming in German (I suppose you couldn't have an authentic anti-Semitic rant in English), the school choir sang in German, and the gravedigger at the start of the film delivered last rites in German. Either have everyone speak English, or everyone speak German! Mixing the two completely shattered my suspension of disbelief and made me constantly question why people were switching between the two languages. Did everyone in Nazi Germany like to practice their English? This irregularity even extended into the books in the film! The covers were often in German with English text on the pages!

Aside from the strange language choices, a number of groan-inducing movie cliches also served to shatter my suspension of disbelief while watching The Book Thief. You have the scene where a character dives underwater and the camera pans over the surface for an overly-long period of time, leaving the audience waiting in "suspense" to see if he will emerge (and of course he does). You have the scene where a female character that displayed fighting prowess earlier in the film is suddenly weak and helpless when a bully beats up her best friend. You have the oh-so-classic scene where the family rushes to conceal the Jew hiding in their basement as SS officers are sweeping the street. You have the romantic who dies while professing his love. And of course you have the pointless narrator (in this instance, Death), who serves really no purpose at all other than providing a ham-handed introduction and conclusion. The list goes on.

Every family has their secret

Probably the film's biggest single weakness is the pacing. The first 2/3's of The Book Thief amble along at a slow but steady pace (though the timeline is somewhat confusing - the film jumps months at a time with few transition scenes). About 3/4's of the way into the story, the film suddenly throws climatic event after event at the audience as characters are sent to war or disappear only to reappear without any explanation at all. The viewer has no time to process what is happening. Then, the film abruptly reaches its conclusion in a very hurried and jarring manner. I have no problem with drastic shifts in pacing in cinema if done well and with a purpose; however, The Book Thief just felt like the screenwriter attempted to cram in all of the really important events of the book while leaving out everything else (a regrettable if understandable occurrence, as the novel is over 500 pages long). 

Liesel retrieves a book following the Nazi book burning ceremony

My final major qualm with The Book Thief involves the distortion of morbidity in cinema. (Obviously this doesn't apply to films that deliberately go over-the-top or are aiming for certain moods.) It is apparent that makers of the film were aiming for a PG-13 rating (which typically appeals to the widest possible audience and brings in the most money). However, I can't stand it when films obscure or sanitize death when depicting horrific events, especially historical ones. Near the end of the film, an Allied bombing raid kills many people in the town. As the camera pans over a line of dead bodies in the street, each one appears like a perfectly-embalmed corpse - perfectly preserved, no blood, etc. How exactly did they die? Did Death magically swoop down and steal their souls while leaving their bodies untouched? I imagine with the firebombs and collapsing buildings one would see crushed/missing limbs, severe head trauma, burn wounds, and the like. Maybe they died from a shockwave? I kid. But seriously, that's actually one reason why I prefer "serious" films to go all out on violence (even if it warrants an R-rating). PG-13 films sanitize violence and present it in a totally disingenuous manner, downplaying the realities of war and death. (Hotel Rwanda was one of the worst perpetrators of this phenomenon - a movie about mass genocide should not be rated PG-13, IMO). While I am not a huge fan of Schindler's List, it definitely portrayed the horrors of WWII and the Holocaust quite well in this regard. Just my $.02.

Anyway, I'll step down from my soapbox now. As I've stated previously, The Book Thief is an average film. It's by no means terrible, but it is nothing to write home about either. If you are interested, by all means go see it in theaters. But I'd recommend saving your hard-earned money for the slew of excellent films coming out this December, including American Hustle, The Wolf on Wall Street, and Inside Llewyn Davis.

-CC

As of December 13th, 2013, The Book Thief is in theaters everywhere. Here is the trailer: