Everybody, step away from your computers and double-check that we haven't stepped into a wormhole in the 90s. This new trailer for The Book Thief, which you can watch in HD at Apple, seems to have been lifted directly from the 1996 Oscar season, the kind of vaguely European-seeming awards bait that would have played as a trailer in front of Life is Beautiful or The English Patient. It even stars Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson, two fixtures of 90s Oscar ceremonies-- Rush won Best Actor for Shine in 1997 and was nominated for 1999's Shakespeare in Love, and Watson was nominated for Best Actress for Breaking the Waves in 1997 and Hilary and Jackie in 1999.
And even the one-sentence plot description feels incredibly 90s Oscars: "Based on the beloved bestselling book, THE BOOK THIEF tells the inspirational story of a spirited and courageous young girl who transforms the lives of everyone around her when she is sent to live with a new family in World War II Germany." Everybody knows that nothing gets awards attention more than the Holocaust, unless it's an adaptation of a beloved bestselling book which also features an adorable kid. The kid in question here is played by Sophie Nelisse, who was in the acclaimed French-Canadian film Monsieur Lazhar. That's right, even the kid in this movie has a serious pedigree.
The Book Thief is set to open on November 15, which-- you guessed it-- is also prime time for Oscar hopefuls. It already has plenty of competition for awards buzz, with Lee Daniels' The Butler already out there and a slew of other contenders poised to premiere at the Toronto Film Festival in just a few weeks. Can this heartwarming Holocaust saga even make a mark with so much going on? By the power of Geoffrey Rush and his Oscar, they're at least gonna give it a shot.
