'The Book Thief'

There’s a stigma that every movie dealing with Nazi Germany is going to be a bloody and depressing tale. You expect to see emaciated bodies avoiding soldiers with red patches on their uniforms. You may envision the kind of brutality and gore that made you cringe in “Saving Private Ryan.”

That’s not the case in “the Book Thief.” At least, not completely.

Liesel Meminger (Sophie Nélisse) is a young girl adopted by German couple Hans and Rosa Hubermann (Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson). She befriends her neighbor and classmate Rudy Steiner (Nico Liersch). At school she is made fun of for not being able to read, but she slowly learns from Hans, fostering their close relationship.

Liesel adjusts to her new life and seems to be growing up as a normal German adolescent until Max Vandenburg comes to her parents for help. Max (Ben Schnetzer) is Jewish and the son of a man Hans fought with in World War I. He and Liesel grow close and through a love of books and words, Liesel begins to truly doubt the views of her country’s government.

There was a surprising amount of humor in “the Book Thief.” From simple marital teasing to making fun of Hitler’s mustache, the comedic relief makes you forget that miles away there’s a concentration camp, and militaries are invading somewhere nearby.

“The Book Thief” deviates from other World War II films because while such a big part of the plot is Liesel’s family hiding and protecting a Jew, it has nothing to do with the Holocaust. We see little of the war happening around them.

It is wholeheartedly a story about a girl growing up, finding her beliefs and sticking to her values.

Brian Percival directed a beautiful film that revealed a new side of World War II, a side we either don’t think of or refuse to consider. He showed us that in the “bad guys” there were “good guys.” There were kind old men who played the accordion and innocent children who just wanted to read.

I would definitely put it somewhere near the top of your “must see” list. And bring tissues with you.