Words: Violet
, With advertising dominating everywhere we look in 21st century Western culture, readers of The New York Times got quite a shock when they opened their newspapers to find two seemingly blank pages. All that could be seen on the page was a the URL, wordsarelife.com. A first for the newspaper, these pages were actually advertising The Book Thief, a new World War 2 drama set to hit our screens early next year.
The paper stipulated that, “the underlying message of the advertising campaign, ‘imagine a world without words,’ echoes the film’s narrative” which follows nine year old orphan Liesel Meminger [Sophie Nélisse] as she explores and shares the magic of a book she stole during her brother’s funeral.
The film – which is an adaptation of Markuz Zusak’s critically acclaimed novel – also stars Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson as Meminger’s foster parents [Hans and Rosa Hubermann] to whom she goes to after her brother dies. Set against a back drop of Nazi-Germany, the film expertly depicts its cruel, disturbing, propaganda-filled world through the eyes of an innocent yet astute child. The narrative also centres around Liesel’s friendship with a Max Vandenburg, a young Jewish friend of Hans who goes into hiding in the Hubermanns’ basement.
The memorable performances from Oscar-winning Rush, BAFTA award winning Watson and newcomer Nélisse are intensified by the incredible music from five time Oscar winner John Williams. Throw in Emmy-winning director Brian Percival and you can practically see the plentiful awards falling off the laden shelves at The Book Thief‘s head office. A stunning cinematic exploration of hope, injustice, power and humanity that thoroughly deserves the Oscar buzz. A real triumph.
Release Date: 31st January 2014
By Victoria Gardiner
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