Directed by: Brian Percival
Staring: Sophie Nelisse, Geoffrey Rush, Emily Watson
This tells the story of 9-year-old Liesel Meminger as she grows up in Hitler’s Germany. When her younger brother dies, she is taken by her mother to be fostered in a small town, never to see her parents again. She is illiterate but her new Papa, Hans Hubermann, (Geoffrey Rush, he of “The King’s Speech”), patiently teaches her and instils in her a love of words and a realisation of their power. She finds an unlikely ally in the mayor’s wife, from whom she steals books. The Narrator is “Death”, who is very busy during wartime but the film implies the horrors with a gentle touch – a very moving experience. Bring a hankie.