The Book Thief

We watched the movie The Book Thief on HBO at the weekend. I had a vague memory of reading something about it, or about the book from which it was adapted, but that was some time ago. Harsh words by critics or reviewers had left an impression at the time.

It seems a little out of place to say I enjoyed the movie, bearing in mind its theme. The story held my rapt attention throughout, acting and filming was excellent, as was the score by John Williams. There were a few sheepish grins, a few tears too. Husband says he felt uncomfortable throughout, but thought that, of its kind, it was a good film.

The Book Thief, adapted from Australian author Markus Zusak's award winning novel, aimed at a young adult readership, is set in Germany between 1938 and 1945. Yes, a war film; but a war film with a difference.

The book and film are narrated by "Death", a weird concept, but for me, a follower the Tweets of "God", it worked well - and in much the same tone too!

The story unfolds as seen through the eyes of a young girl of around 6 or 7 years old as the film begins. She is fleeing, with her mother and younger brother, from the Nazis. It is implied that the mother was thought to be a communist or communist sympathiser - possibly from Eastern Germany(?) The young brother dies during the journey, the girl is taken to live with pre-arranged foster parents, the mother is taken prisoner by soldiers.

The girl, Liesel, proves to be illiterate; the kindly foster father teaches her to read and write. She becomes such a keen reader (and later a writer), that her passion for books leads her to risk secretly borrowing from the town's Mayor's home library.

The girl's harder-edged but well-meaning foster mother presents a foil to her husband's warmer approach. There's a blond-haired boy next door; there's a Jewish young man whose father had been the foster father's best friend; and there's the Mayor of the town, and his wife Ilsa, rounding off the main cast, along with the expected dose of brutal Gestapo officers waiting in the wings.

That's all I'll tell of the plot, so as not to spoil it for others. Details are not hard to find online for anyone interested.

Afterwards, I checked some reviews of the film, which was released to cinemas in 2013. "Mixed" is the best that can be said of them. Many reviewers and snooty film critics didn't like the movie at all, and had some pretty derisive things to say about it. Commentary from ordinary film-goers under some reviews does match more closely my own opinion.

Holding The Book Thief against Schindler's List, or against any similar film, a ploy of certain critics, is a ridiculous way to judge this film. I see The Book Thief as a "one off". Different. There's so much in it that isn't about the war at all, but about people, and life, and relationships. Nationality of the characters is secondary, they are just people, people like you and me; and about children such as we all have known.

There was a thread of understanding for me to easily grasp. I realised that as allied aircraft bombed the girl's street in Germany, German aircraft were likely bombing close to my own street in England. The utter futility of it all washed over me again, as it does regularly these days.

For the ordinary people of Germany, France, Italy, and other European countries invaded by the Nazis things were vastly worse than they were for us in Britain, of course. We, at least, did not have to fear visits from the Gestapo. We were not forced, at school, to sing anthems in support of a Nazi regime we neither understood nor could have supported if we had understood.

I intend to read the book. Some who had already read the book, and later saw the movie, considered it a reasonable adaptation. Others felt that the movie missed some underlying tone and messages. What the movie had to lose, in part, was an unusual framing by narration of the personification of Death. There was some of this included in the film, via resonant tones of English actor Roger Allam. From book excerpts I've seen online though, it wasn't quite sufficient to capture the same "feel" and atmosphere.

A snip from the book (and film), this spoken by Death:

“I wanted to tell the book thief many things, about beauty and brutality. But what could I tell her about those things that she didn't already know? I wanted to explain that I am constantly overestimating and underestimating the human race—that rarely do I ever simply estimate it. I wanted to ask her how the same thing could be so ugly and so glorious, and its words and stories so damning and brilliant.

None of those things, however, came out of my mouth.

All I was able to do was turn to Liesel Meminger and tell her the only truth I truly know. I said it to the book thief and I say it now to you.

I am haunted by humans.”

~ Markus Zusak, The Book Thief.