A Mostly Effective War Drama

Rating: 6/10 (24 March 2018)

I went into this film having not read the book it was based upon, so I'm not sure exactly how faithful it was to the source material, but overall it seemed quite intriguing. The story being set in a small German village was an interesting vehicle for how major events in history are interpreted.
The main strengths of this film stem from the excellent performances of its main cast, with the formidable Geoffrey Rush as the kind-hearted Hans, Emily Watson as the secretly loving but strict Rosa and Sophie Nélisse as the determined and fiesty Liesel. The score from John Williams is also beautiful, which is what you would expect from a man of his talents.
The theme of using literature as an escape from life in Nazi Germany was well well explored, whilst the film being narrated by the embodiment of Death allowed for some intriguing philosophical ideas to be introduced.
However, I felt the film was not as emotionally impactful as it could have been and there was a lack of tension in moments where there should have been, so that detached me from the narrative somewhat. Also I felt aspects of life in Nazi Germany were skimmed over with not enough focus in some areas.