The Book Thief Trailer Brings Us The Power Of Books In Nazi Germany

Watching the latest trailer for the World War II drama The Book Thief brought to mind something that a great man, played by Sean Connery, once said: “Goose-stepping morons like yourself should try reading book instead of burning them!” Indeed. That seems to be the message of The Book Thief, and a good message it is too. 

The Book Thief stars Sophie Nelisse as Liesel, a young girl in Nazi Germany who begins stealing books, despite being unable to read. She ends up as a foster child of the Hubermanns (Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson), who look after her and try to teach her to read the books she has stolen. This being a pre-World War II drama, there’s naturally the appearance of the Nazis and a Jewish fist-fighter, whom the Hubermanns conceal in their home.

The trailer has all of the prerequisites of an autumn drama: adorable children, an uplifting story and a fight against oppression via the power of books. Despite a rather heavy-handed and totally needless voiceover that kicks in partway through the trailer, The Book Thief comes off as an interesting and potentially excellent film, based on the popular book by Markus Zusack. While we can practically see the writing on the wall for the Hubermanns and their young charge, the film itself appears to more than just standard fare for this time of year. We can only hope that it will fulfill its promise. Given the dire straits of films this summer, I’m in the mood for a good powerful drama.

The Book Thief was directed by Brian Percival (Downton Abbey), from a script by Michael Petroni (The Rite). It comes to theatres November 15th, 2013.

You can check out the trailer below and let us know what you think in the comments. Same old Nazis, or something more?