Coming to theaters this Friday: an utterly transporting movie based on a best-selling young-adult novel, about a brave young heroine who learns the power of friendship and perseverance at a time when evil forces bring war to her doorstep.
No, not “Catching Fire.”
But perhaps because the films share a local opening date, "The Book Thief" director Brian Percival, author Markus Zusak and star Sophie Nélisse were brought to Atlanta for an advance screening and audience Q&A as part of a promotional tour. Your kids will no doubt be eager to see Katniss & Co. on the big screen, but we cannot recommend "The Book Thief," which takes place in Nazi Germany during the horrors of World War II, highly enough.
“My goal was to write a 100-page novella,” Zusak said of the 500-plus-page doorstop that inspired the movie. “I got a little carried away.”
Sophie, who is 13, plays the brave and precocious Liesel, who is given up for adoption after her sickly younger brother dies. Her new mother (played by Emily Watson) seems stern and scary at first, but with the help of her kind new father (Geoffrey Rush), she learns to read, one beguiling word at a time. When war breaks out, her parents conceal Max (Ben Schnetzer), the Jewish son of a cherished family friend. As the Nazis terrorize the town, Liesel and Max find solace in the basement that is both shelter and library.
“I want to get as many people to see this as possible,” Percival said. “It has a positive message.”
Indeed, although the story takes place in one of history’s grimmest hours, “The Book Thief” is imbued with a spirit of hope.
“It’s about a girl in Nazi Germany, when Hitler is destroying people with words,” Zusak said. “A girl steals them back.”
Sophie had to research for many long hours to prepare for the role of Liesel, and the character was a demanding one.
“Crying all day is hard emotionally,” she said. “It makes you want to cry even more.”
But there are love and laughter in both the book and the movie. The book, published in 2005 and optioned right as it came out, spent years on the New York Times Best Seller list. Percival would love for the movie to renew interest in history as well as the novel.
“My hope is young people will see this and will be intrigued,” he said. “It’s always best if children or teenagers find out history for themselves rather than being told.”
