Saw 'THE BOOK THIEF' last night and I have to say that I was largely underwhelmed by it! This is a plodding, labouring production that really takes a long time to go nowhere!Directed by Brian Percival whose previous credits include the much acclaimed 'Downton Abbey' series, and starring Geoffrey Rush (always good and a favourite) as the father of the piece who portrays loving, caring, nurturing Hans as the adopted 'papa' to Liesel as our heroine and our book thief. In the other corner is the wife of Hans and adopted 'mama' to Leisel played out brilliantly by Emily Watson who nails the stoic tough as nails German Frau to great effect.
This all plays out at the onset of WW2 in a remote German town, and we see Leisel grow, learn and mature as she endures the hardship of a country at war; her struggles against what Hitler is advocating; and the impact against her friends, neighbours and loved ones as the Reich seek to cleanse the country of its Jewish, Communist and Black citizens . . . whilst harbouring a Jewish lad in the basement of the adopted home for 2+ years!
There are some harrowing moments, some sentimentality and the production values are good, but this lacks any real sense of suspense, impending danger and the real impact of the Holocaust - all of these are skirted around to give a more sanitised version of the horrors of that period in time when the world was at war.
Throughout the film we have peppered dialogue from 'Death' himself who awaits to sweep up every lost soul as they war takes increasing hold - but this is no 'Grim Reaper' Death - this narrator has some heart, some feeling and a certain empathy with those who fall victim to the ravages of war, starvation, ethnic cleansing, lack of medical aid, or indeed manage to escape his clutches . . . for the time being, as he reminds us that 'everybody dies - eventually'!
The book by Australian author Markus Zusak has been much lauded, but the movie for me was a let down . . . wait for the DVD, and save yourself the price of a movie ticket!
-Steve, at Odeon Online-
Good book, but not great - book is much better!
ReplyDeleteThanks Pip - have not read the book, but I thought the movie lacked real substance, suspense and the angst of the era!
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