The book thief is a book that has been hyped about quite a lot on the blogosphere and i really hoped that i would like it. After the death of liesels younger brother on a train to molching, on the outskirts of munich, liesel arrives at the home of her new foster parents, hans and rosa hubermann, distraught and. The book thief, its use of englishgerman languages, and. I dont know whether markus zusaks young adult bestelling novel the book thief should be considered unfilmable but the adaptation, written by michael petroni and directed by brian percival, makes a compelling case that it shouldnt have been filmed. Though liersch is the only german actor in the cast, the accents and occasional use of german words feels natural. Her name is the book thief and i shall name her that for the rest of the book. In addition, death roger allam sounds like a silkysmooth english gentlemen, yet all onscreen actors attempt german accents, to varying. In this chapter, death reveals how hans put his copy of mein kampf to work for good. Some complaints were made because the characters speaks english with german accents with the occasional german word. Markus zusak is the international bestselling author of six novels, including the book thief and most recently, bridge of clay. There too is max, a jew hiding in the hubermanns basement, whose friendship spurs poetic moments with liesel. Book thief examines nazi germany through a childs eyes.
Though the film is in english, the mix of predominantly british and american actors all seem to have adopted german accents of varying intensity. I tend to look at the saumensch and saukerl discussions from a quite different point of view. Set in germany in the years 19391943, the book thief tells the story of liesel, narrated by death who has in his possession the book she wrote about these years. I really enjoyed the book thief which i found compelling throughout. The book thief tries so hard to be something oscarworthyish, but its basically juss a blah pile of wishywashyishishy ishness. The book thief by markus zusak add it on goodreads 55 stars genre. This is a common device that allows an english speaking audience to understand what is being said while still maintaining the illusion that everything is happening in german.
Even though i stole, like, 3 books in total or something. The book thief, its use of englishgerman languages, and its characterization of a german town during wwii i have a few thoughts that id like to discuss regarding the book thief directed by brian percival and starring sophie nelisse, geoffrey rush, and emily watson, specifically dealing with both its use of englishgerman and the. The novel also shows the destruction of literature and writing, as dramatized by the burning of jewish creative and intellectual products in a book burning to. However, in this case, i really loved the book and movie the book thief. One of the more celebrated aspects of the novel was the deathasnarrator, but it does not successfully transfer to screen. I liked the original so much that i read it in german as well. Then theres the problem of englishspeaking actors doing german accents, the bane of movies about the world wars since time immemorial.
The aforementioned voiceover is an odd component of the book thief. Im not german and i do understand the recent comments regarding southern germany and usage of such language. The movie was really nice, i cried at the end and i loved the actors, besides that they lived in germany, but talked english with german accents. Death returns briefly to the struggle of max vandenburg, who rides on a train.
Theyre so many events going on and this movie is an embarrassing thing. The book thief is an americangerman production with a beautiful, sensitive and heartbreaking story of love, friendship and obsession for reading books in one of the darkest period of mankind history. Director brian percival, who is best known for helming a halfdozen episodes of downton abbey, shows himself to be tonedeaf when it comes to big screen emotional manipulation. The book thief movie tiein by markus zusak, paperback. I tried, several times, to read it, but kept setting it aside to read something else instead. From the toolbox, the boy took out, of all things, a teddy bear. What was your greatest challenge in this production. But the book thief based on an internationally bestselling novel by markus zusak, an australian of germanaustrian descent, thats been described as harry potter and the. Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under creative commons attributionsharealike 3. I spent all minutes of the book thief wondering who exactly its target audience is supposed to be. On the whole, i did like the film, and thought the acting was excellent.
He was such a lovely gentle man who had patience and a sense of humour, and wasnt afraid to love. Nov 15, 20 the book thief wallows in earnestness to the point where it treads the line separating overbearing drama from selfparody. The book thief is a holocaust story far removed from the one told by. Zusak published his first youngadult novel, the underdog 1999 at the age of 24, but struck gold when his fifth book, the book thief 2005 became a runaway bestseller in the united states. The casting decision of finding just the right choice for liesel. The book has now helped two people who are against hitler. But its the history, including the horror of kristallnacht, that keeps it vital. The language issue is clumsily managed with german accents and periodic words and lines delivered in german instead of perhaps starting the. It is a warm hearted,emotional film with fantastic acting by all the cast,likeable characters and a great storyline.
Published in, the book thief became an international bestseller and was translated into 63 languages. So far i have only read the english original version, but i am looking forward to reading the german translation which, i believe, will be better than the original. In addition, death roger allam sounds like a silkysmooth english gentlemen, yet all onscreen actors attempt german accents, to varying degrees of. The book thief trailer shows nazi germany through the eyes. He doesnt comment on how he encounters humans at their best and at their worst not. On the screen, as well as a blight of bad accents im looking at you, rush and watson the decision to perform some lines in subtitled german and others in english becomes nonsensical when the characters are. It is a welldesigned, good looking film with locations and costumes that place its audience squarely in the middle of world war iiera europe. While its set during a historical time period, the book thief doesnt give us a dry, factbased history lesson. Im proud to say the book thief couldnt pull my heartstrings the. The difficulty for me was the books central conceit. Again, german accents present far less problems on the page, as does the habit of switching between the german language and english. There was little new in the story line and i wasnt convinced by emily watsons performance as a harsh, germanic foster mother with a heart of gold. I love to listening her german accent when she speak in the movie, its so cuteeee.
Nov 04, 20 the book thief celebrates love and life in one sequence and takes it all away in the next, only to come back around to give your heart yet another bruising, but it always does so with. But the costumes and sets look pretty decent but the costumes and sets look pretty decent. The book thief tells the story of liesel meminger, a young german girl coming of age in nazi germany. May 02, 2017 there too is max, a jew hiding in the hubermanns basement, whose friendship spurs poetic moments with liesel. The book thief takes place during the holocaust, a subject seen in many other renowned films, but the beauty of this story comes from the perspective viewers get that of a childs. After spending weeks more in the storage closet, maxs friend walter kugler makes his last delivery to max, which includes food, a razor, and a train ticket from stuttgart to munich to pasing.
Feb 23, 2014 the aforementioned voiceover is an odd component of the book thief. The book thief markus zusak, 2006 random house childrens 576 pp. The book thief, its use of englishgerman languages, and its. Liesel is a little princess whose foster father teaches her to read after her schoolmates taunt her for illiteracy. The book thief is a movie in which the good germans are very, very. The book thief is a world war ii film with a difference. Mar 16, 2014 the book thief is a book that has been hyped about quite a lot on the blogosphere and i really hoped that i would like it. The novel focuses on the joys and sorrows of liesel, her foster family, and the jewish man they hide from the nazis. Nov 07, 20 but the book thief based on an internationally bestselling novel by markus zusak, an australian of germanaustrian descent, thats been described as harry potter and the. His work is translated into more than forty languages, and has spent more than a decade on the new york times bestseller list, establishing zusak as one of the most successful authors to come out of australia. The book thief, its use of english german languages, and its characterization of a german town during wwii i have a few thoughts that id like to discuss regarding the book thief directed by brian percival and starring sophie nelisse, geoffrey rush, and emily watson, specifically dealing with both its use of english german and the. It tells the tale of a young german girl living in nazi germany who goes to live with new foster parents as the outbreak of world war two approaches. The book thief featurette bringing history to life 20 geoffrey rush movie hd duration.
The main two reasons to see the book thief are new frenchcanadian talent sophie nelisse, and the unpeered geoffrey rush. John williamss score is stirring, and the cast adopts game german accents. If the film critique could be stoppered at performance, the book thief would find its niche. A trailer for the book thief has now been released, which puts most of the emphasis upon the heartwarming nature of the story and liesels comingofage, though some of the nastier aspects of the setting creep in around the ages. Feb 10, 2014 i spent all minutes of the book thief wondering who exactly its target audience is supposed to be. The book thief trailer shows nazi germany through the. The novel also shows the destruction of literature and writing, as dramatized by the burning of jewish creative and intellectual products in a book burning to commemorate adolph hitlers birthday. There is an excellent blend of different pieces that move the film along well the violence and the intensity of the time period, the touching relationships. I dont speak an ounce of german, but when i read the book, it seemed to me like rosa, especially, and other characters, used the terms endearingly. Markus zusak has a german father and an austrian mother, but he grew up in the sydney suburbs. Overall, the book thief looks like a competent adaptation that will no doubt be enjoyed by fans of the source material, those who are particularly interested in the historical background of the story. Its based on a bestselling youngadult novel set in nazi germany, but it has a cheesy. The book thief is the polar opposite of that kind of movie.
The book thief mixes british actors using german accents, a few german actors, and the occasional german word, creating a playfully successful illusion of germanness. The book thief, world war ii tale with geoffrey rush. Nov 06, 20 the main two reasons to see the book thief are new frenchcanadian talent sophie nelisse, and the unpeered geoffrey rush. It is impossible not to be drawn into the story and feel like you are living on the streets of munich during world war ii. It is a home front story set in germany, telling the stories of the ordinary german people who had their country taken hostage by the nazis. Dec 17, 2018 released in 20 and starring geoffrey rush, emily watson, and sophie nelisse as the eponymous character all of them featuring terrible german accents, the book thief movie is a beautifully shot and photographed condensed, abbreviated version of the novel that manages to miss out on its genuine emotional moments, to diminish deaths. The book thief is an earnest melodrama with a solid cast that deals with powerful themes of life, death, and connection. The book thief mixes british actors using german accents, a few german actors, and the occasional german word, creating a playfully successful illusion of german ness. It was adapted into a feature film of the same name. A misfire in far too many meaningful aspects, the book thief is so bad that its tough to decide whether its better used as a sleep aid or.
Filled with dumb german accents, when they should have just used stupid english accents. The acting was i viewed the book thief with great anticipation at the beginning, but unfortunately my attention flagged halfway through. Germanaccented english is spoken along with random subtitles, and thats just. He reached in through the torn windshield and placed it on the pilots chest. What does dennis olsen bring to the story that you wouldnt experience if you just read the book. The book thief arrived perhaps thirty seconds later. The book thief, world war ii tale with geoffrey rush the. The book thief celebrates love and life in one sequence and takes it all away in the next, only to come back around to give your heart yet another bruising, but it always does so with. Its about a dewyeyed little girl in germany in world war ii, and if youre anything like me the klaxons are already wailing in your head, everything is turning bright red, and engineering is pleading that the she canna take much more of this abuse, captain. My only complaint is that this book is listed in the audible kids category, where i believe it truly does not belong.
The book thief is a beautifully narrated and superbly told novel. The book thief is framed by various other books, not the least of which is protagonist liesels memoir, the book thief. The smiling bear sat huddled among the crowded wreckage of the man and the blood. There are a lot of curse words in the book thief, and ive been thinking a lot particularly about the name rosa uses for liesel, saumensch. First off, the title, the book thief doesnt even really apply to the movie at all.
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