The Book Thief has an Oscar-winning composer, a cast led by Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson, and a bestselling novel behind it. What it lacks is a reason to exist as a film. Brian Percival’s 2013 adaptation of Markus Zusak’s book runs 131 minutes and holds a Metacritic score of 53 of 100, or 5.3 of 10 — a mixed verdict, and a fair one.
Trailer, via 20th Century Studios.
A Girl, a Grave, and a Stolen Handbook
The setup is strong. Liesel Meminger, played by Sophie Nélisse, is sent to live with foster parents Hans and Rosa Hubermann in Molching during World War II. At her brother’s funeral she steals The Grave Digger’s Handbook, and Hans — a kind man, and the film’s best asset — teaches her to read.
From there the film spreads itself thin. Liesel befriends Rudy Steiner, joins the Hitler Youth, grows disillusioned, salvages a scorched book from a burning, and is noticed by Ilsa Hermann, the mayor’s wife, who opens her private library. Each thread is a film. None gets its due.
Max in the Basement
The Hubermanns hide Max Vandenburg, a Jewish man whose father once saved Hans’s life. Ben Schnetzer plays him. He and Liesel bond over books and shared trauma.
When Hans publicly defends a Jewish neighbour, Max leaves to protect the family. Liesel believes she sees him marched through town with other prisoners and cannot confirm it. That uncertainty is the film’s most honest moment, and it passes quickly.
The Raid That Ends Everything
An unannounced air raid destroys Molching. Liesel survives in the basement. Hans, Rosa, Rudy and others die. She reunites with Max after the war and lives to old age. Roger Allam is credited as Narrator and the voice of Death.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| October 3, 2013 | Premieres at the Mill Valley Film Festival |
| November 8, 2013 | US general release |
| March 11, 2014 | Blu-ray and DVD release |
Key facts
– Runtime: 131 minutes
– Budget: $19 million
– Box office: over $76 million
– Metacritic: 53/100 (5.3 of 10)
– Composer: John Williams
What the Score Nominations Actually Prove
The score earned nominations at the Oscars, the Golden Globes and the BAFTAs. That is John Williams doing his job. It is not evidence the film around the music works.
The real problem is Death as narrator. The device promises a perspective the film never delivers — Allam’s voice floats over events without changing how we see them. The novel is said to give that voice more weight; on screen it registers as a caption.
Nélisse won the Hollywood Film Festival Spotlight Award, the Satellite Newcomer Award, and the Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Performance by a Youth. She earns them. Rush and Watson are fine. The film around them is a sequence of respectable scenes that never accumulate into anything.
The Book Thief wants to be about the endurance of words. It is instead a film that keeps telling us words matter while showing us books being carried from one room to another.
Get the Notebook.
The day's best stories and every fresh verdict, in plain English, in your inbox by seven. One email a day, no more.
