The Book Thief (Die Buecherdiebin)

Seen at the Northallerton Forum

Bea says:  From the opening scenes of this film I was entranced and spellbound.  It is beautifully shot throughout, and as a steam train puffs its way through a snow-bound landscape we begin to follow the story of Liesl (Sophie Nelisse) - at the time about 12 years old - and the people who experience WW2 with her in a German town.

I related strongly to this film, as my own German grandmother was probably only slightly older than Liesl when war broke out, and the details in the film (the kitchens, the laundry work, the food, or lack of it) were all very reminiscent of the stories she used to tell me.  And my family were, like these people, in the most part ordinary Germans who got through the war by keeping their heads down.  They neither spoke out (and I am not excusing that) nor absolutely supported what was going on, except by silence.

Like the family in the film they - until the horrors of WW2 began - lived alongside Jewish people, had them as friends and neighbours, used the shops and services they ran.  But the family in the film do more than this - they take in a Jewish man (Max, played by Ben Schnetzer) and hide him in their house for two years.  Hans Hubermann, Liesl's adopted father (ably played by Geoffrey Rush) speaks out when a Jewish neighbour is arrested - and the crippling fear that results after his name is taken by the Nazi officer is a terrible reminder of what those times were like.

This is a film adaptation from a novel, and all the characters are well developed.  When Liesl goes to live with her new family, my heart sank as Rosa Hubermann, her new "mother" (brilliantly played by Emily Watson) initially seemed to be a cliched wicked stepmother type. However, we see many sides to Rosa's character as the film progresses, and come to understand her more deeply.

There is a great deal of sorrow and death in this film, as befits the times it is set in, sadly.  But it is a film about the things that connect people beyond race and religion - a love of books, and a promise made in the trenches of WW1, and it does have some hope.  Absolutely wonderful.  Not quite perfect - as sad as it is to say, it is very unlikely indeed that Max would have survived after leaving the Hubermann's house.  While that reunion scene was very lovely after all Liesl had lost, it was the only bit of the film that did not quite ring true for me.  There were a few other points, but I know that Cecil will  mention them so I will not.
****

Cecil says: There isn't much I can add to Bea's thoughts this time. This was a totally absorbing film, which made me realise how few films we see - at least in the English-speaking world - dealing with World War Two from behind a German family's front door. We've seen films about French and Danish resistance lately but never much to look at how it was to be an ordinary German family through those years.

I was just not sure about the accents.

I mean, why cast a film full of Aussies, Brits and other English speakers if you are then going to get them to speak in a strong German accent and throw in the odd fragment of German language?

I can almost picture the auditions now, with Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson (both brilliant, as Bea says) struggling to master their comic-book caricature of zee cherman aksent vee orll used to mimic at school.

There must have been some logic for it, but I couldn't fathom it. Having said that, it did kind of work, though I wonder how a German audience would react to it (except that they won't hear it because in Germany they dub nearly all their films).

And there were smatterings of German dialogue through the film, along with the opening credits referring to the film in both its English and German title.

I also wasn't sure about the Voice of God (or the Grim Reaper), who introduces the film and draws it to a close. There's a little bit of Wenders (Himmel ueber Berlin) or Von Trier (Europa) here, but I preferred those and again wondered what the narrative voice added.

Liesl was great, though, and enchantingly played throughout.

****