As one interviewer said, taking on an old-fashioned narrative of a character going through a change, with so much dialogue, is about the most daring thing you can do today, and he does it beautifully.

You’re right about the script too, it’s a model of narrative. I’d stand up for his direction, however. It’s simple but elegant and I love how profoundly visual the end is, the reveal based on the brilliantly set up red ribbon, the use of the “Karl Marx Buchhandlung,” a store in Berlin I’ve been to, as the shop where Wiesler buys the book, seen in a simple wide establishing shot, its name sprawling across the screen, made me gasp with its simplicity.