There are number of movies revolving around the theme of the holocaust, based in Nazi Germany. Understandably, these movies are rather gore and uneasy to watch considering the dark part of human history they narrate. ‘The Book Thief’, however, is an exception. This 2013 movie directed by Brian Percival based on a book written by Marcus Zusak narrates a small heartwarming story based in Nazi Germany with a notable focus on aesthetic pleasantries.
It’s the story of Liesel Meminger who gets transferred into a foster family at the beginning of the movie after losing a brother. She’s a rather composed girl, despite the hardships she goes through and the maturity she has to understand everything that’s happening around her. Her foster family is nice to her where her father even teaches her to read. She falls in love with the process of reading and eventually with books, but books are a scarcity in Nazi Germany. The infamous act of book burning that used to take place frequently as a part of the holocaust has also been featured in the movie. Even though the protagonists of the film are not victims of the holocaust, the evils of the time are well showcased and the victims given justice. There is no scope for ignorant/impressionable viewers to sympathize with the perpetuators of holocaust crimes; as was the case in ‘The Boy in the Striped Pajamas’. The Book Thief does well to balance the political implications of the movie.
Liesel find a way to keep reading despite the unavailability of books, and finds a secret friend to read them to. Max, and absconding Jew, is hidden and protected in the basement of their small house by her foster parents. Liesel befriends the nice man who understands and shares her eagerness towards books and even gifts her and empty journal to fill for Christmas. She is his window to the outside world to which he has no access. Narrating the outside world to Max is Liesel’s orientation to the new world that she embarks into, post war.
Interestingly, the narrator of ‘The Book Thief’ is God himself. God tells us Liesel’s story because he believes that her’s was a full life. Through the narration he even funnily admits at one point that he himself might have been Hitler’s greatest facilitator. Hitler destroyed everything that Liesel knew to be her own. Once the war was over, she had to begin from scratch – and she did it beautifully. Max returns into her life with that large heartwarming smile of his and God says that their friendship lasted until the very end of their lives. Even through the hardships, ‘The Book Thief’ ends on a very positive note, leaving a smile on our faces as we head to the end credits.
It’s a simple story but the backdrop of Nazi Germany makes it all the more interesting. It makes us understand that a simple act of loving books could have been a lethal offence in such times. Liesel stealing or ‘borrowing’ books (in her words) from the Mayor’s house so that she could read with Max could have had catastrophic consequences for her and her simple family. But she and her little friend Rudy manage to maneuver through the challenges of their lives until one fine day she has to part ways with him.
I wouldn’t call ‘The Book Thief’ a historically important movie, but from an artistic perspective it is a worthwhile experience. The cast, the setup, the background score and aesthetic appeal of the entire movie are beautiful. Is the kind of film that will linger on,and slide easily into the favoriteslist.
Beautiful movie indeed.