Movies I'd Like To See: The Book Thief

We all love going to the movies. We all love seeing the screen come alive with great characters, epic story lines, and mind-blowing action. But another thing about going to movies that we love is seeing the trailers for the movies that are on the horizon. Now, in the Information Age, there are TONS of trailers out there, but every once in awhile you get a trailer that really lights you up and sets that fire in your brain. Showcasing the trailers that do that for me is the point of this series of posts called "Movies I Want To See". Today's post is about the trailer for a new movie called "The Book Thief".

In this film, we get to explore a story that takes place during the escalation of WWII in Germany, from the point of view of actual Germans. No, not the Nazis, but the actual German folks just trying to get through their days without getting killed by the Nazis. Here, check out the trailer:



I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "Why Rodney, are you promoting yet ANOTHER in a long line of WWII era movies? I mean, seriously, can they not pick ANOTHER era to make movies in? This is an obvious bid for an Oscar, man!" And, I can understand that thought, but in my experience, most of the WWII era movies portray the Germans as this fanatical country of people dying to take over the world and make white people the master race. And honestly, for a long time, I bought into that. Then I started reading the actual historical accounts of what happened in Germany and learned how the Nazi party slowly conned the nation of Germany and took over before anyone really knew what was happening (kind of like what the Tea Party is trying to do to the U.S. now). People tend to forget that the Nazi party's FIRST victims were the Germans themselves. And despite what the propaganda might have you believe, the German population was nowhere near monolithic in its backing of the Nazi party. So, I continue to find it refreshing to see accounts told of the German people who survived in Nazi Germany, while trying their best to live their lives as best they could and all the unsung acts of heroism that happened in the back rooms. While this particular story is fiction, I think that there are plenty of real life stories that mimic this one in some way.

Another reason I like this story is that I'm a fan of books. I absolutely LOVE reading, but reading actual BOOKS; not digital copies on some e-Reader's screen. I the feel of the rough texture of a hard cover tome in my hand, the sound of actual pages turning, the soothing scent of books, and of course the crisp text on the pages, spinning an infinite number of stories to dazzle, amaze, rend the heart, and send it soaring. And it causes me never ending anger to hear about all the book burnings the Nazis sponsored across the nations they controlled. So, a movie about saving books (even in part) from being burned is a good one in my book.

The last reason I want to see this movie is my respect for the talents of the cast, particularly Geoffrey Rush. I've loved his acting ever since I first saw him in the movie Shine (no, not POTC: Curse of The Black Pearl). He is a spectacular actor and I love the projects he chooses to participate in and the roles he chooses for himself in those projects. Watching this movie will be an amazing experience. What do you think, my dear readers, will you be watching "The Book Thief"?