The Book Thief: Movie Review

     This past week, my class watched The Book Thief, a movie based around the book The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak. The movie was directed by Brian Percival, and Percival made the tone of the movie much lighter than the book. The movie was a loose representation of the book, and many important points to the plot were left out. As for the plot: The movie takes place in the mid-1900's, in Nazi Germany. Eleven year-old Liesel Meminger was taken to her new home at the Hubermann's on Himmel Street because her mother could no longer care for her. Here, she is raised by Hans and Rosa Hubermann, and Hans teaches Liesel how to read using a book she stole at the scene of her brother's burial. Liesel finds her passion for books, as well as for reading, in Molching Germany. The movie goes through her adolescent years, growing up, facing the challenges of having very little, as well as sharing memories with her friend Rudy. The movie also showcases the challenges and problems with growing up in Nazi Germany, under the rule of Adolf Hitler. But Liesel still manages to have a wonderful life, that only gets more interesting once the Hubermanns harbor a Jew in their basement- Max Vandenburg.
     In the movie, the characters each had their own unique personality. The main characters include: Liesel Meminger, Rudy Steiner, Hans and Rosa Hubermann, Death (narrator), and Max Vandenberg. In the beginning of the movie, Liesel was a very quiet and shy girl, but as the movie progresses, she becomes more open once she finds her place on Himmel  Street. Rudy, Liesel's best friend, is a very energetic and handsome boy, and other characters such as Max and Hans have a very comforting, calm, and open mind, which really deepens the conflict between characters, and gives us a better understanding of how they feel. The acting throughout the movie was very emotional, as well as realistic and natural. The Book  Thief had very good acting, especially from Max and Hans. Each actor fit the bill for the character they were playing as well. Although this was the case, there are some key elements missed from the book that affected the movie. In the book, there is a more solemn tone, yet in the movie, some of the saddest scenes were made positive. The book that Max gave Liesel was blank instead of written in, and Liesel and Max bonded over books instead of nightmares, which was very generic and did nothing special for the movie, or the relationship between the characters. Some scenes not included in the book helped the move though. During the bombing on Himmel Street in the movie, Max actually left the house to go outside for the first time in forever. This scene is very emotional, and captures the way Max saw the world, as well as how human the Jews really were.
     Overall, the movie The Book Thief ranks about a 3/5 stars. The movie as a whole was very entertaining and keeps you interested, but the scenes missing, if added, could've made the movie much better.