Monday, October 6, 2014

The Book Thief (2013)


"Courage beyond words."


Directed by
Brian Percival
Produced by Karen Rosenfelt, Ken Blancato
Screenplay by Michael Petroni
Based on "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak
Starring: Geoffrey Rush, Emily Watson, Sophie Nélisse
Narrated by Roger Allam
Music by John Williams
Cinematography: Florian Ballhaus
Edited by John Wilson
Production company: Sunswept Entertainment
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Release date: November 8, 2013(United States)
Running time: 125 minutes
Country: United States, Germany
Budget: $19,000,000
Box office: $76,586,316

"The Book Thief" is a war drama film directed by Brian Percival abd based on the novel of the same name by Markus Zusak. It tells the story of Liesel living with her adoptive German family during the Nazi era. Taught to read by her kind-hearted foster father, the girl begins "borrowing" books and sharing them with the Jewish refugee being sheltered by her foster parents in their home. But what does she do in fact: commits a crime or finds the way to develop herself?


Cast
  • Geoffrey Rush as Hans Hubermann
  • Sophie Nélisse as Liesel Meminger
  • Emily Watson as Rosa Hubermann
  • Ben Schnetzer as Max Vandenburg
  • Nico Liersch as Rudy Steiner
  • Sandra Nedeleff as Sarah
  • Hildegard Schroedter as Frau Becker
  • Rafael Gareisen as Walter Kugler
  • Gotthard Lange as the gravedigger
  • Godehard Giese as the policeman on the train
  • Roger Allam as Death, the film's narrator
  • Oliver Stokowski as Alex Steiner
  • Barbara Auer as Ilsa Hermann
  • Heike Makatsch as Liesel's mother
  • Levin Liam as Franz Deutscher
  • Carina Wiese as Barbara Steiner


Brian Percival, the director of the film, is also known for his work on the British television series "Downton Abbey" and "North & South". As for "The Book Thief", it's a really emotional movie. The wonderful film about the war, or it's better to say about ordinary people living in that time.

Acting is on a high level. Geoffrey Rush as Hans Hubermann was incredibly kind, sensitive and compassionate father - the dream of every little girl. He taught Liesel to read and to live at that time. Sophie Nélisse as Liesel Meminger turned out gentle, kind, brave. Yes, she had lost her parents but selfrespect stayed with her. Every her glance and movement carry so much meaning. Emily Watson as Rosa Hubermann is a hard woman however she has a big soft heart. Ben Schnetzer as Max Vandenburg is also a difficult character. He outlived very much especially because he was a Jew in Hitler's time.

However, It was a big mistake to see this movie after reading the book. So much missed, so much didn't show. The relationships between Liesel and Rudy and Liesel and Max hasn't been cleared up, in spite of the fact that the running time of the film is about two hours. And it made me upset.


Advantages
  • The story 
  • Geoffrey Rush as Hans Hubermann
  • Sophie Nélisse as Liesel Meminger
  • Ben Schnetzer as Max Vandenburg

Disadvantages
  • Any war is always terrible

"Strangenesses"
  • Almost the happy ending

Clue Moments
  • Burning books
  • Saving the Jews


Death. Most people scares of it. But some are able to face it calmly. It's important to admit that death is an essential part of life. No one can avoid it. So we should every day, every minute, every moment or we will never get up an appetite for life. Only living right now can make you feel alive.

Nazism. It's the ideology and practice associated with the 20th-century German Nazi Party and state as well as other related far-right groups. Usually characterised as a form of fascism that incorporates scientific racism and antisemitism, Nazism originally developed from the influences of pan-Germanism, the Völkisch German nationalist movement and the anti-communist Freikorps paramilitary culture in post-First World War Germany, which many Germans felt had been left humiliated by the Treaty of Versailles. In my opinion, nazism must stay only in past. Not in present. Not in future. Just in past. Today it's time for tolerance. If you want to do something that makes you happier and doesn't hurt anyone, do that. The freedom of one person ends where the freedom of another one begins. So it's impossible to forget about the moral qualities of each of us - we are all different. Therefore, let's be polite and let's respect the personal space and freedom of other people. An if someone belongs to a nationality which is distinct from yours, don't blame him or her. It's really absurd and incongruous. Just accept things as they are.

Law and morals are different, we have to admit it. I mean in the view of law theft is illegal. It's... bad. However in respect to morals, we should know the motives of an infringer. Why did he or she do it? In many instances there are good intentions for that. For example, if a mother don't have any money to feed her children, will it be a crime when she will steal a loaf of bread? From the direction of law, exactly. But what are your heart telling you?


Soundtracks
  1. John Williams - "One Small Fact"
  2. John Williams - The Journey To Himmel Street
  3. John Williams - New Parents And A New Home
  4. John Williams - Ilsa's Library
  5. John Williams - The Snow Fight
  6. John Williams - Learning To Read
  7. John Williams - Book Burning
  8. John Williams - "I Hate Hitler!"
  9. John Williams - Max And Liesel
  10. John Williams - The Train Station
  11. John Williams - Revealing The Secret
  12. John Williams - Foot Race
  13. John Williams - The Visitor At Himmel Street
  14. John Williams - Learning To Write
  15. John Williams - The Departure Of Max
  16. John Williams - "Jellyfish"
  17. John Williams - Rescuing The Book
  18. John Williams - Writing To Mama
  19. John Williams - Max Lives
  20. John Williams - Rudy Is Taken
  21. John Williams - Finale
  22. John Williams - The Book Thief


Quotations
* * *
Max Vandenburg: If your eyes could speak, what would they say?
* * *
Narrator: I have seen a great many things. I have attended all the world's worst disasters, and worked for the greatest of villains. And I've seen the greatest wonders. But it's still like I said it was: no one lives forever.
* * *
Narrator: I wanted to tell the book thief she was one of the few souls that made me wonder what it was to live. But in the end there were no words. Only peace. The only truth I truly know is that I am haunted by humans.
* * *
Max Vandenburg: So... How is Rudy?
Liesel Meminger: I don't know. Rudy is a pain in the neck.
Max Vandenburg: The only thing worse than a boy you hate, is a boy you like, right?
* * *
Narrator: One small fact: you are going to die. Despite every effort, no one lives forever. Sorry to be such a spoiler. My advice is when the time comes, don't panic. It doesn't seem to help.
* * *
Rudy Steiner: You're stealing books? Why?
Liesel Meminger: When life robs you, sometimes you have to rob it back.
* * *
Max Vandenburg: Words are life, Liesel. All those pages, they're for you to fill.
* * *
Rosa Hubermann: This is the stupidest thing I've ever done.
Hans Hubermann: Yes, and just look how happy you are.
* * *
Max Vandenburg: I'm not lost to you, Liesel. You'll always be able to find me in your words. That's where I'll live on.
* * *
Rosa Hubermann: Can we trust her? She's a child.
Hans Hubermann: She's our daughter.
* * *
Liesel Meminger: Do you think my mother really loved me?
Max Vandenburg: Of course. Every mother loves her child. Even Hitler's.
* * *
Max Vandenburg: Write. In my religion we're taught that every living thing, every leaf, every bird, is only alive because it contains the secret word for life. That's the only difference between us and a lump of clay. A word. Words are life, Liesel.
* * *
Rudy Steiner: I'm not ready. I want to grow up before I die.
* * *
Max Vandenburg: Memory is the scribe of the soul.
* * *
Narrator: In my job, I'm always seeing humans at their best, and their worst. I see their ugliness, and their beauty. And I wonder how the same thing can be both.
* * *
Narrator: While ten thousand souls hid their heads in fear and trembled, one Jew thanked God for the stars that blessed his eyes.
* * *
Liesel Meminger: I'm not stealing, I'm borrowing.
* * *
Liesel Meminger: I keep thinking about Max, wondering where he is.
Hans Hubermann: Me too. I'm not sure what it all meant. Everything he went through. Everything we did.
Liesel Meminger: We were just being people. That's what people do.
* * *
Rudy Steiner: What's an accountant?
Hans Hubermann: Something we will never need.
* * *
You may see the trailer here.


Plot: 9/10
Entertainment: 8/10
Acting: 8/10
Originality: 8/10
Music and Sound: 8/10

8/10

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