By J.R. “Jim” Zurak
There are some movies that you want to see – some that you must see – and then there are movies you should see. The Book Thief is a movie you “should see.” Set in Germany during the 1938 through 1945 period of the countries pride, shame and guilt; it is the story of a preteen young girl who has been given up by her communist mother in order to save her from the growing threat of Nazi oppression and eradication of all non aryan people. Chief among the non aryan peoples designated for Hitler’s wrath and hatred were the Communists and the Jews. The story line is both simple and complex. The middle aged German couple to whom the abandoned young girl has been given, to raise as their own, become the center of the story. To honor a commitment made to the man who once gave up his life to save the newly accepting papa of the abandoned young girl, the couple accept his fleeing son, a Jew, into their home. Here he is hidden, from the communities hatred and the Nazi’s threat of extermination, in their basement. What evolves is the bonding of dispirit people, whose lives are forever changed and whose humanity is mirrored in ways that will make you smile, cry and provoke the thoughts of man’s inhumanity to man.
Rating: “H” Representing the ability of man to demonstrate Humanity in the face of oppression, hatred and inhumanity. I will leave it to you to judge the significance of the movies title.
The Book Thief is playing at the Rialto Theater.
Villager J.R. “Jim” Zurak reviews movies for Villages-News.com
