A Rapariga Que Roubava Livros (2013)

While subjected to the horrors of World War II Germany, young Liesel finds solace by stealing books and sharing them with others. In the basement of her home, a Jewish refugee is being protected by her adoptive parents.

Director:

Brian Percival

Writers:

Markus Zusak (based on the novel by), Michael Petroni (screenplay by)

Stars:

Sophie Nélisse, Geoffrey Rush, Emily Watson

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 9 wins & 16 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Roger Allam	...	Narrator / Death (voice)
Sophie Nélisse	...	Liesel Meminger
Heike Makatsch	...	Liesel's Mother
Julian Lehmann	...	Liesel's Brother
Gotthard Lange	...	Grave Digger
Rainer Reiners	...	Priest
Kirsten Block	...	Frau Heinrich
Geoffrey Rush	...	Hans Hubermann
Emily Watson	...	Rosa Hubermann
Nico Liersch	...	Rudy Steiner
Ludger Bökelmann	...	Football Urchin
Paul Schaefer	...	Football Urchin
Nozomi Linus Kaisar	...	Fat Faced Goalie
Oliver Stokowski	...	Alex Steiner
Robert Beyer	...	Jewish Accountant

Storyline

In 1938, the young girl Liesel Meminger is traveling by train with her mother and her younger brother when he dies. Her mother buries the boy in a cemetery by the tracks and Liesel picks up a book, "The Gravediggers Handbook", which was left on the grave of her brother and brings it with her. Liesel is delivered to a foster family in a small town and later she learns that her mother left her because she is a communist. Her stepmother, Rosa Hubermann, is a rude but caring woman and her stepfather, Hans Hubermann, is a simple kind-hearted man. Liesel befriends her next door neighbor, the boy Rudy Steiner, and they go together to the school. When Hans discovers that Liesel cannot read, he teaches her using her book and Liesel becomes an obsessed reader. During a Nazi speech where the locals are forced to burn books in a bonfire, Liesel recovers one book for her and the Mayor's wife Ilsa Hermann witnesses her action. Meanwhile Hans hides the Jewish Max Vandenburg, who is the son of a ...

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Plot Keywords:

book | world war two | nazi | nazi germany | book burning | 

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Taglines:

Courage beyond words.

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Genres:

Drama | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some violence and intense depiction of thematic material

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official Facebook [United Kingdom]

Country:

USA Germany

Language:

English German

Release Date:

23 January 2014 (Portugal)

Also Known As:

A Rapariga Que Roubava Livros

Filming Locations:

Berlin, Germany

Box Office

Budget:

$19,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$105,005, 10 November 2013

Gross USA:

$21,488,481

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$76,586,316

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fox 2000 Pictures, Sunswept Entertainment, TSG Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

131 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SDDS Datasat Dolby Atmos Dolby Surround 7.1

Color:

Color Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson also played husband and wife in The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004) as well as in Genius (2017).

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Goofs

Rudy Steiner wears a winter sweater with a metal zipper. Buttons on children's clothing are much cheaper and much more likely with war-time metal shortages in 1942 Germany. The zipper was mostly seen as a novelty item in this era.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: One small fact: you are going to die. Despite every effort, no one lives forever. Sorry to be such a spoiler. My advice is when the time comes, don't panic. It doesn't seem to help.

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Connections

Featured in Film '72: Episode dated 19 February 2014 (2014)

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Soundtracks

Wiegenlied: Guten Abend, Gut Nacht, Op. 49, No. 4
Written by Johannes Brahms

User Reviews

No One Lives Forever

In 1938, the young girl Liesel Meminger (Sophie Nélisse) is traveling by train with her mother and her younger brother when he dies. Her mother buries the boy in a cemetery by the tracks and Liesel picks up a book, "The Gravediggers Handbook", which was left on the grave of her brother and brings it with her. Liesel is delivered to a foster family in a small town and later she learns that her mother left her because she is a communist. Her stepmother, Rosa Hubermann (Emily Watson), is a rude but caring woman and her stepfather, Hans Hubermann (Geoffrey Rush), is a simple kind-hearted man. Liesel befriends her next door neighbor, the boy Rudy Steiner (Nico Liersch), and they go together to the school. When Hans discovers that Liesel cannot read, he teaches her using her book and Liesel becomes an obsessed reader. During a Nazi speech where the locals are forced to burn books in a bonfire, Liesel recovers one book for her and the Major's wife Ilsa Hermann (Barbara Auer) witnesses her action. Meanwhile Hans hides the Jewish Max Vandenburg (Ben Schnetzer), who is the son of a deceased friend that saved his life in the war, in the basement of his house and Liesel becomes his friend. One day, Rosa asks Liesel to deliver laundry to the Major and Ilsa invites Liesel to go to her library and tells that she can visit her to read whenever she wants. But in times of war there are many threats and the lives of Liesel, her family and friends will never be the same.

"The Book Thief" is an American-German 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. The screenplay is original, with Death narrating the plot. One important point of this movie is that it is not about the Holocaust like most of the war dramas. Liesel, Hans, Rosa, Rudy, Ilsa are German common people with feelings, fearing and suffering and eventually dying but they do not necessarily agree with what the Nazi do. The performances are top-notch, highlighting Geoffrey Rush, Sophie Nélisse and Emily Watson. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "A Menina que Roubava Livros" ("The Girl Who Stole Books")