Composing Greatness: #46. John Williams - "The Book Thief" (2013)

Scene from The Book Thief

Welcome to Composing Greatness: a column dedicated to exploring the work of film composers. This will specifically focus on the films that earned them Oscar nominations while exploring what makes it so special. This will be broken down into a look at the overall style, interesting moments within the composition, and what made the score worth nominating in the first place. This will also include various subcategories where I will rank the themes of each film along with any time that the composer actually wins. This is a column meant to explore a side of film that doesn't get enough credit while hopefully introducing audiences to an enriched view of more prolific composers' work. This will only cover scores/songs that are compiled in an easily accessible format (so no extended scores will be considered). Join me every Sunday as I cover these talents that if you don't know by name, you recognize by sound.

Is "The Book Thief" Able to Return World War II Movies Back Into the Best Picture Race?

Sophie Nelisse

Once in a great while, there is a movie that falls under the Oscar Buzz radar that didn't seem to stand a chance at any major nominations. Maybe it is because it was outside the realm of the Oscar bias and didn't have too many major stars. Maybe it lacked acclaim. In the past month, director Brian Percival's The Book Thief came to my attention and slowly it began to make me perplexed and interested. Before seeing a trailer in front of Captain Phillips, I had no idea that the film existed. However, the more interesting question going forth from here is whether or not it can manage to put World War II back into the race.