Its official. I have finally seen The Book Thief!
I am actually pleasantly surprised by how good it was! I was expecting the movie guys to get at least half of the plot line wrong.
They did change some of the ending to make it more dramatic. While I liked the ending how it was in the book, I felt that the movie version was good too. It was changed a little, but not so much that it compromised the integrity of the story.
Oh, and I definitely cried.
That was me and my mom. Mhm. Judge all you want.
Check out the IMDb page for the movie here.
Anyways, here goes.
Characters:
Liesel Meminger:
LOVED HER. She had this aura about her that drew you in. Everyone in the movie loved Liesel the moment that they met her and the audience of the movie did as well. Especially since the first thing that you see of her is her watching her brother die. So sad! But her overall transformation through the whole movie was great. Watching her go from a quiet girl to a book thief was amazing!
Hans Hubermann:
Again perfection. He was that loveable guy that you can't help but see as the perfect dad. He is the one that really helps Liesel come out of her shell and that relationship was still there on the screen. It was some very good acting from Geoffrey Rush. And yes he did play Captain Barbosa in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Now move on ;)
Rosa Hubermann:
So perfect! I loved that they kept her foul mouth. Although she swore in German you could still tell that she was swearing. It was great. But I was glad that the movie kept her coldness and then showed her thaw about half way through.
Rudy Steiner:
Rudy was my favorite character in the book. That being said I am incredibly hard on the movie version of him. While I thought it was the best that it could be using a young actor I felt as though a little of Rudy was missing. Just his essence. Its hard to explain. But I do think that the relationship with Liesel was there and it was just as perfect as it was in the book.
Max Vandenburg:
I honestly thing Max was my favorite character in the movie. He was loveable and had that older brother vibe to him. The way he was able to help Liesel become who she was meant to be was amazing. I loved watching their interactions on the screen.
Death:
One of the things that made me love Death as a character was the way that he was tired of his job and I just didn't get that in the movie. Yes, he wasn't malicious but it was almost as though he didn't care about what happened to everyone sometimes. In the book I also enjoyed the way that Death escorted the souls of the dead. The way he would carry them. That wasn't present until the very end of the movie.
Plot:
Books: A lot of the plot with the books was there. Liesel stealing them from a bonfire, and reading at the Hermann's. Though she did pick up a book called "The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison" at the bonfire. Let me tell you, I have read that book and a 12 year old girl should NOT be reading that book. There are a few scenes I was uncomfortable with reading. And the Hubermann's didn't give Liesel books for Christmas. But that is understandable that it was cut.
Snowball Fight/Snowman: This was one of my favorite scenes. It is Christmas time and the city is blanketed in snow. Liesel and Hans are able to bring buckets of snow down to Max and they all have a snowball fight and build a snowman. It just seemed like so much fun.
Nazi Stuff: I liked how whenever someone was giving a speech about the Nazi party or when the children were singing it was all in German. I think it gave the movie a little bit of historical accuracy as well as reminding the viewers about the time that the characters were in.
The Ending: I already told you guys that I cried because it was upsetting. But some of it was changed. It made it a little more emotional but it also just made me aware of the fact that the screenplay writers changed the storyline. And they also took out the funeral which was one of the nicest scenes in the book. However the final monologue from Death was perfection.
Spoilers: SO GLAD THAT DEATH DIDN'T SPOIL THE ENDING!!!!!!
Conclusion:
I loved this movie! I think I am going to go out and buy the DVD soon. I think it was an amazing adaptation of the book and kept the overall feeling you got when you read it. I loved all the sets, the sotumes were amazing! While the acting of the young children were not always outstanding, I would take that over an 18 year old attempting to be 12 any day.
-Shawnee Smith
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