The Thief Lord

source: The Thief Lord

This film was so good on so many levels. Attractive actors (almost a redundancy) useful plot, wonderful photography and setting, exciting chase sequences, hissable villains. The one aspect of it which I found troubling I also found in an otherwise fine film 'Catch Me If You Can.' This is the idea that robbery is an acceptable activity if the need is great enough. This aberration creates a slippery slope toward the concept that robbing the rich/giving to the poor 'Robin Hood' behavior is OK, and even further that robbery/burglary is acceptable. Why is that? It seems in 'Catch Me' to be a plot vehicle where daddy needed an operation. In 'Thief Lord' like 'Peter Pan' it was because all the grownups were evil, selfish, wicked, bad, corrupt, unworthy, uncaring or otherwise negative. I suppose as a plot vehicle it works, but there should be a black label on the jacket warning parents that the premise of the movie is anti-social. With that proviso give it 6/10.

I feel bad for the person who wrote this story; she must be ashamed. The plot, story, the intristic sequence of events point to a great author who wrote an even greater story (O.K., maybe magical carousels are not your thing, but hey). But the filming, the time passage, the low-budget special effects...They all made it less than what it could have been. If you can view a movie and pay attention to the plot but not the special effects, this is a movie to watch then. I definitely liked Scipio, since he is covertly a cameo of Harry Potter; but in a more realistic point of view (i.e. he fails, he makes mistakes, but he still redeems them). In short, This is a movie to watch over the weekend when you have nothing else to do.

'The Thief Lord' is an enchanting little film that will keep people of all ages occupied since it's executed in a manner that isn't too childish or sugary. Based on fantasy novel by Cornelia Funke, the film centres on fourteen-year-old Prosper and six-year-old Bo, orphaned brothers who face being split up by their cruel aunt and uncle who intend to dump the elder boy in a children's home while they adopt the younger child. The boys flee to Venice, a city their mother told them was magical, where they are befriended by the mysterious Thief Lord and his band of street waifs. Stealing to provide for themselves, the children's lives are about to take another extraordinary turn as the Thief Lord's secret is unravelled and they discover why Venice truly is a place veiled of magic. The child cast in this film all give decent performances and manage to carry the film well, since it is very much a film that focuses on their characters. Rollo Weeks' Scipio is portrayed in a manner that shows him to be a less flashy, more troubled hero than Harry Potter of the films (an entirely different character to the Harry of the books). Aaron Johnson is perfect as Prosper, a young teenager caught between enjoying his own childhood and providing a parental figure to his brother while wee Jasper Harris was utterly adorable as Bo, proving that very young actors can still be talented. Their young co-stars of George MacKay, Lathaniel Dyer and Alice Connor are equally as effective in their roles. And the young cast are well-supported by their adult co-stars, particularly Jim Carter as the clumsy Victor and Alexei Sayle as the slimy Barbarossa. As an adaptation, 'The Thief Lord' is quite loyal to the books with the characters and the main plot remaining largely unchanged. The story is depicted in a manner that is involving and will endear the audience to the young characters and the musical score fitted the mood of the film perfectly. However, there were a couple of flaws, such as the scenes towards the end with the new 'children' (I don't want to elaborate too much in deference to those who haven't seen the film) were a bit too slapstick and didn't suit the rest of the film while the new version of Scipio should probably have been played by someone else since it just looked like Rollo Weeks with a bit of make-up on. And perhaps it should have been established where Proper and Bo lived previously so the audience aren't left wondering why the citizens of Venice all speak with English accents. That said, I found 'The Thief Lord' a charming film that should appeal to all ages of the family. It's a shame it's so underrated and received little acknowledgement in the UK since surely we should be supporting our talented home-grown young actors and be eager to show the world that British child acting doesn't begin and end with the Harry Potter cast.

This was a wonderful movie. It was quite well-acted, despite depending so heavily on child actors (which movies don't tend to do, unless said child actor is Dakota Fanning). But really, this was quite well done. Star performances go especially to Alice Connor (Hornet) and Rollo Weeks (Scipio) for their roles, as they best fit their book counterparts. My only qualms with this movie were that the grown-ups (namely the Hartliebs) got obnoxious very quickly, and that the movie was far too rushed. Some of the good acting had to be done very quickly, and it made it seem far less believable. Also, the Hornet/Prosper bits which were thrown so well into the book were suddenly awkward in the movie. Besides these hindrances, this was a wonderful film, which I would recommend, not to 'Harry Potter' fans, necessarily, but to fans of anything with this sort of feel... Harry Potter, A Series of Unfortunate Events, or even Narnia.

A friend of mine made me read Thief Lord over a year ago and I fell in love with it. Being the crazy internet freak I am I googled the book looking for fan sites, instead i found out about the movie. In my computer class at school I found (gasp) the trailer!!!!! But it was in German and I could not for anything find it in English. But I didn't care! All I could do for the rest of the day was gush about scip's HOTTNESS!!!! I was so mad that I couldn't find the movie in theaters but I bought the DVD the day it came out (March 14 best day ever!!!). I watched it and was pleasantly surprised. I expected it to be butchered like the Harry Potter movies but it was fantastic! So many of the scenes are word for word from the book! Nothing is better than that for a true fan of the book. All of the cast was excellent! especially Rollo Weeks as Scipio and Aaron Johnson as Prosper. (to whomever made this decision: me and my friends greatly appreciated the scenes with Prop with out a shirt.) my friend parents said it is one of the few movies that the entire family can enjoy. I watched it with a group of people age 2-42 and everyone loved it. (at least we assume the little people liked it though they arn't very good at voicing their opinions) I would recommend this movie to any one! It's so much fun and was the beginning of soooooo many inside jokes!

Cornelia Funke's novel has been turned into a very good "family" film. How I hate to use that term but unfortunately its true. This is the story of a couple of orphans who high tail it to Venice in search of the magic that their mother always spoke about. Their they fall in with the "Thief Lord" and his band of orphans who steal in order to survive. This is a really good movie. I really do like it a great deal. The film is well acted by all concerned. It has great effects and is extremely well made in pretty much every area. And that is what was wrong with the film, it looks too good. Everything is picture perfect and neat. I don't think I've ever seen a film where Venice ever looked this neat and clean. It takes the film out of being very real to being a a bit of lets put on a show. Its a grand and very enjoyable show, but its a show who's technical excellence keeps you at arms distance. Maybe its just a bit of disappointment on my part, I wanted to fall into this film and enjoy it from on the inside, instead I was forced to see it through a looking glass of picture perfect perfection. Still see this movie. If you have kids sit them down and show them this movie, it will keep everyone entertained. Its a film that people should be seeing and talking about since its too good to have get lost and disappear. 7.5 out of 10.

It took me about four hours to read the Thief Lord, and four hours for the book to become my all time favourite. And it wasn't a case of reading a book because a movie's been made. I discovered the movie after, and fell in love with it. The actors did a wonderful job, and were very believable. And this was Aaron Johnson's second time being an on screen orphan. He was Charlie Chaplin in Shanghai Knights. The movie didn't have many changes, but a change that I absolutely adored was the flirtation between Hornet and Prop. I suspected it in the book, and I'm thrilled they got it out in the open in the movie. All in all, it was one of the best movie's I've ever seen, and it remains my favourite.

First of all I'd like to praise Aaron Johnson he's by far the best actor of the bunch. His role is very difficult to act out specially for a kid his age (15) back then. I didn't like the movie itself very much because it comes across as jerky, sloppy and very unbalanced for instance: Bo and Prop have had a terrible time on the streets before they were rescued by Scipio but for some reason the Director/Screenwriter Richard Claus left that out. Scipio, is supposed to be a very careful character he wouldn't take in Bo and Prop for trying to steel some cough medicine. And then there's Scipio's mask. Scipio, hides his face for every adult according to the book but in the movie the mask goes on and off on the strangest moments, this really spoils the mystical character of Scipio also Scipio's normal life as a rich boy being mentally tormented by his father doesn't come across because the screenplay just skims over this very important fact. Now the "street kids" seem to be only mad at him because he's a rich boy. But they are actually angry about the fact that Scipio used them to make himself feel good by being looked up at and respected because he isn't being respected at home. And all this is so meagerly portrayed. Generally there's no fluency in between the scenes and plots and subplots this makes it look very messy the first time when you see it. When you actually watch the movie a second and third time and get over this disastrous screenplay and brilliant acting of the youngsters it does become an intriguing movie. I.M.H.O Richard Claus shouldn't have been the screen writer and I don't like his way of cinematic photography either (too little close ups and hardly any movement by the characters when they act). Another Screen writer and a better director would've made this now "B" movie into a blockbuster. All in all the story has all the ingredients and the actors are phenomenal.

I just want to say that I adore The Thief Lord book and when I found out they made a movie from it, I almost fainted with joy. The story's about little Bo and his older brother Prosper. Their mother died and they are placed under the care of their Aunt Esther and her husband. Aunt Esther only wants Bo because of his angel face and plans to place Prosper in a boarding school (it's an orphanage in the movie). The siblings refuses to be separated and runs away to Venice. There they meet Scipio (aka Thief Lord) and he offers them Stella, an old rundown theatre, as a home. There they meet other orphans like them: Hornet, Riccio, and Mosca. Bo and Prosper's aunt and uncle goes to Venice and hires a detective named Victor to find them, because they knew how much the boys love Venice, from the stories their mother told them. There's a souvenir shop owner by the name of Barbarosso and the orphans sell the treasures that Scipio steals to him. Barbarosso has a costumer that wants something precious stolen and the Thief Lord accepts the job. It's a wooden wing that belongs to the merry-go-around of the Merciful Sisters, claimed to do magical wonders. If I continue, I'll spoil the delightful surprises. After seeing it, I was disappointed. What happened to the characters? Where's the sparkle? The characters seem shallow comparing to the ones in the book. The movie really did stick to the plot of the book but it seems they were so obsessed in keeping the story line just right that they forgot the characters. Plus, the English accent was so thick that I had a hard time understanding what they were saying. There are wonderful scenes in the movie that really shone forth. I love how Bo and Prosper met Scipio, the camera following him crawling on rooftops. The awesome escape the gang made after Victor found them in the Square. Victor and his mustache collection that he keeps inside his jacket. The beautiful mask shop. Maybe I'm just too faithful to the book. This movie will be great for those people who haven't read it yet.