“The Book Thief” is based on the critically acclaimed best-seller by Marcus Zusak. The movie was directed by Brian Percival. The original score was by John Williams. He was nominated for a Oscar, a Golden Globe, and a BAFTA. He won a Grammy for Best Instrumental Album. The movie was a big hit.
Liesel (Sophie Nelisse)
is a young German girl who is being raised by the Hubermanns. Rosa (Emily
Watson) is an ass, but Hans (Geoffrey Rush) is doting. Liesel loves reading
ever since she acquired The Gravedigger’s Handbook. She and her best
friend Rudy are typical elementary school students in Nazi Germany. They are in
the Hitler Youth, but participation in a book burning causes her to rethink her
patriotism. She finds a kindred spirit in the Burgomeister’s wife. She invites
Liesel to borrow books from her husband’s library. Hence the title. When the
Hubermanns hide a Jewish boy named Max, she teaches him to read. The war has a
deep impact on main characters lives. Have some tissues handy.
“The Book Thief”
is a war movie, but not really a Holocaust movie. The only Jewish character is
Max. Liesel is a very appealing young lady and her love of reading hopefully
inspires more young girls and boys to read more. I haven’t read the book, but my
research indicates it has the expected changes when you adapt a young adult
book to the screen. Characters were dropped and obviously scenes were eliminated
for time reasons. Subplots were cut. (The book is 550 pages.) In a slap in the
face of youngsters who have read the book, the movie is more upbeat. The Devil
from the book only appears as a narrator at the front and back of the movie,
with a little in between. The relationship between Liesel and Rudy is more of a
romance than a big brother – little sister vibe. I did feel upon watching the
movie that it did not have enough hardship. It piles all the heart-tugging to
the end. There is little suspense along the way. The plot clearly aimed the
movie at young adult movie-goers, rather than young adult readers. But it did
well, so you can’t fault the studio for encouraging the changes.
I found the movie to be entertaining, but inconsequential. Considering the fame of the novel, I did not find the movie to be impactful. I have a strong belief that a movie version of a book should be better than the book, unless the book is too fanciful or futuristic for movie technology to replicate. The screenwriter of “The Book Thief” had the template of a beloved book to build his screenplay from. He could have improved upon it, but he didn’t. However, if you are not going to read the book or your child is not going to read it, watching the movie is an acceptable option. The plot is close enough and the actors do a great job bringing the characters to life. I believe most readers found the actors to fit how they envisioned the characters they read. And the book does not have a soundtrack by John Williams, so score one for the movie.
GRADE
= C
