"Death harvests many lives close to Liesel, and the movie never hides the dark nature of its subject, yet it retains a heartwarming and edifying quality which makes it very suited for kids"

Countless celluloid footage has been used to depict the horrors of Nazism and the Holocaust, yet The Book Thief offers a unique and much needed take on the subject.

Based on the novel of the same name by Mark Zusak, The Book Thief is about a young girl named Liesel who, at age 11, experiences the death of her brother and is then abandoned by her mother, who leaves her to an older couple of foster parents in Nazi Germany.

While her new mother Rosa seems severe and distant at first, her foster father Hans instantly warms up to Liesel, teaching her how to read and write. Liesel grows a fervent passion for books, a very hard to find item during Nazism. The young girl goes to any extent to find new things to read, eventually climbing through a window to steal books from the Mayor’s library – with the benevolent approval of his wife. ?Following the example of her adoptive parents, Liesel develops an instinctive disapproval of Nazism, which she shares with her schoolmate Rudy.

When World War II breaks out, Hans and Rosa hide a young Jewish man, named Max, in their basement. Liesel and Max become good friends, and when he becomes very ill from the cold in the basement, she helps him recover by reading to him whenever she can. ?In the book the whole story is narrated by the Angel of Death, replicated here by a voice over, a trick that keeps the attention high throughout the film. Death harvests many lives close to Liesel, and the movie never hides the dark nature of its subject, yet it retains a heartwarming and edifying quality which makes it very suited for kids.

The Book Thief features an impressive cast: newcomer Sophie Melisse is absolutely brilliant as Liesel, while Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson provide robust performances as usual, in the roles of Hans and Rosa. In particular the amazing interplay between Rush and Watson offers some of the best moments in the film.

The actors speak English with a German accent, a befitting choice which is slightly overblown when the words “ja”, “nein” and “und” are kept in German, sometimes making for an unwanted comic effect. Luckily it is a minor defect that does not really spoil this most successful effort.

Director Brian Percival (Downton Abbey) does a good job in pacing this screen transposition while keeping faithful to the novel. The cinematography by Florian Ballhaus and Anna B. Sheppard’s costumes help in great measure to achieve the cold and dark feeling of the times. To top it all off, John Williams’ score, one of his rare incursions outside Steven Spielberg’s realm, is understated yet poignant, proving once more the man is a true master.

The Book Thief is an original portrayal of the life of a young girl during the Third Reich, which can be particularly recommended for school screenings in order to introduce the younger generations to a tragic historical period.