A solid, well-acted movie.

Rating: 9/10 (12 December 2013)

The movie is a well made but constrained story that downplays the Nazi excesses, which is the movie's problem. It does depict these excesses, but fails to convey the sense of terror associated with the Nazi regime. Then again, the story is not about the Nazis but about characters set in that time. This is not to suggest that the subject of the Nazis is whitewashed, because it is not, but rather that the style of the movie, that focuses on the characters, pushes the Nazi actions more into the background, lessening its emotional impact, which, given the history of the Nazi regime, is a hard sell. The girl who plays the title role is excellent. Her performance is warm, engaging and credible. Also, Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson give strong performances. Some of the elements of story are stagy and contrived, but so what? It's literary license. It's a movie about a young girl who witnesses all kinds of awful things and is exposed to Nazi ideology, yet, because of a loving family, maintains her goodness. That alone makes this movie worth watching.