Review: The Book Thief

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WORDS Ciara Forristal

In Markus Zusak’s best-selling novel The Book Thief, the author is not afraid to shy away from death, and indeed, welcomes it. Zusak allows death to preside over the narration of the novel, a presence all the more poignant in the midst of the Second World War. The coming-of-age story of a German girl Liesel (Sophie Nelisse) who is adopted by Hans (Geoffrey Rush) and Rosa Hubermann (Emily Watson) in 1938 at the zenith of the Nazi Regime provides a poignant dichotomy of life and death in a time of grim realities and man’s inhumanity. However Brian Percival’s adaptation fails to provide an encompassing picture of a life lived in the presence of overwhelming death and destruction.

Death’s narration of the film is in a paternalistic manner, with the opening scenes shot in a haze of billowing storm clouds before narrowing his focus onto the familial situation of Liesel, whose brother dies on a train ride and who is buried in an unmarked grave. Clutching onto a gravedigger’s manual left beside the grave, unbeknownst to what the book contains due to her illiteracy, Liesel is forced to learn quite quickly to read the danger in situations and to acquaint herself with death. Integrating into the family and the new society takes time for Liesel and it is greatly aided by Hans who teaches her to read, as well as next door neighbour Rudy (Nico Liersch) whose enthusiasm and friendly manner quickly ensures their friendship.

Darker aspects of the regime are quickly glossed over and benign, only penetrating the background aesthetically.Swastika banners adorn the street and school and are embroidered in the school uniform of the Aryan children who sing triumphant songs of the German motherland. Their innocence is endearing. The more sinister connotations of a brainwashed and indoctrinated nation are downplayed in favour of an aesthetically pleasing choral ensemble. Rudy, the Aryan epitome of physicality, playfully covers himself in mud to emulate his hero, African-American Jesse Owens, a gesture that is rebuked more by his own peers than by the authorities overseeing the activities. Liesel herself gets away lightly, after being caught stealing a cindered book from the public library by the Burgomaster’s wife, whose husband is an active member of the Nazi party. This act — her theft and the wife’s compliance — sees the beginning of a relationship based upon their shared love of reading, regardless of the creed or ethnicity of the writer in question.

Moreover, the arrival of Max (Ben Schnetzer), a Jew seeking refuge with the Hubermanns and their efforts to keep him hidden amidst random basement searches and the apparatuses of the state are not given the gravitas or intensity needed to effectively evoke the life-threatening situation that millions of Jews and their protectors found themselves in during this period of history. The lead up to this event is only premeditated by the fleeting images of Kristallnacht and proceeded by Hans’ willingness to stand up to the authorities when they come to intern a Jewish business owner. More injury is depicted being done to Hans than the Jewish man, and the audience’s sympathy is shifted towards the former at the great expense of the latter.

Overall, the acting is of a high calibre, particularly that of Rush as a kind, doting father in comparison to Watson’s highly-strung and austere mother. Their faux German accents however, can be grating at times and the intermingling of German in their speech suggests that authenticity, even in the smallest detail, is in question during the film. Percival, who has made a name for himself directing episodes of Downton Abbey, seems unwilling to truly interrogate and examine the harsh brutality of a regime. Instead, he seems more interested in creating an ambiance where, to a certain extent, things continue as normal and the basest of human instincts are, like Max, hidden deep beneath the surface of a seemingly idyllic German town.

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