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Movie #14 The Book Thief

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Dee
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Thu Jun 07, 2018 3:36 am

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'The Book Thief' is a 2013 World War II war drama film about a young girl living with her adoptive German family during the Nazi era, directed by Brian Percival and starring Geoffrey Rush, Emily Watson, and Sophie Nélisse. The film is based on the 2005 novel 'The Book Thief' by Markus Zusak and adapted by Michael Petroni.

Accompanying our discussion of 'The Book Thief' in the Book Club thread, I thought it would be interesting to see the story come to life on the screen. See if the cast is how we have imagined them? See if the feel of the film is the same as the book's? If all our favourite moments have made it into the final cut?

And if some of you can't commit to reading the novel at the moment, you might want to just watch the film to share this gripping story with us and enjoy its extraordinary characters. I really do hope they come across as wonderful on the screen as they are in the book. Of course, there are no guarantees. It's very rare that films live upto the books, but it's always interesting to see them try!


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Dee
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Tue Jun 12, 2018 5:15 pm

Hubby away, evenings free... and I couldn't wait any longer, I was soooo curious.

Overall, I think I'm a little disappointed. This is usually the case when a beloved book gets reduced to a mere two hours of movie time. So much must be sacrificed and altered. But despite its shortcomings, I'm happy to have watched the film adaptation.

I enjoyed Sophie Nélisse in the role of Liesel, that was fantastic casting. As was Ben Schnetzer as Max. I loved the portrayal of their friendship very much. There was definitely a gentle hint of romance in there, delicately embroidered. I liked that they shared a bedroom for a long time. Fun banter between them, some of which was actually written for the movie, like the jokes about what would Hitler's mama would write/say to her son. This was one of my favourite moments in the film.

Funnily enough the other favourite moment was very much in line with this one: Rudi and Liesel shouting over the lake that they hate Hitler, and laughing at the dangerous recklessness but absolute necessity to scream it out loud.

Much as the boy who played Rudi was a sweet little lad, he was a tad too young looking, too baby faced for me for this role. I imagined Rudi a little more mature in appearance. There is a maturity gap between Liesel and Rudi in the book too, but it felt a lot more pronounced in the movie, both physically and mentally.

I found the charcacters of Hans and Rosa somewhat disappointing in the movie. I mean, they probably would have been great if I hadn't read the book, but compared to the rich characters of the novel, the film versions were very much lacking for me, especially Hans.

I thought the portrayal of Liesel's reading difficulties was totally off. Here she was shown as a 12 year old who couldn't read or write at all. And then so quickly she learnt. That was just so irrealistic. How could she not read at 12 if she had no problems processing words? Surely she went to school? In the book she was not illeterate but severely dyslexic. I preferred that story much more. How it was a very long process and struggle for her to become a fluent reader.

I missed Max's books from the film. Those were such a huge part of their relationship, just completely cut out from the movie. All focused on Liesel, Max indeed encouraged her to write, but in the novel he has also been writing himself, more than that, he was writing for Liesel, as her sole audience. Max has provided much inspiration to Liesel, not just with his very being and friendship to Liesel, but also with his own approach to writing.

I also felt their reunion was a bit underwhelming. Beautiful hug, it was, but not quite the "falling to the ground" kind that was written in the book and I was so much looking forward to seeing. :73:
At last we did find out that Max stayed a close friend to Liesel until he died. Not as good as a husband, but pretty close second best. I also wanted to know if Max became a writer, but no news on that.

Bonus for the film that we did find out out Liesel became and author. And she found her book in the rubble after the bombing, which was so much better than Death finding it and giving it back to her in her afterlife. :roll:

Talk about Death and the narration: it didn't work for me in the film at all. It was very half hearted. There were huge long gaps, and when he started speaking again, it almost came as a surprise, and actually bothered me to be taken out of the story. Funny, how the book Death was overwritten for me, the film Death underwritten.

Something that worked better for me in the movie was the incident when Hans helped a Jew, bringing danger to his household and Max. I thought standing up for a Jew in town on his arrest, who all bystanders knew well, stating "he's a good man" was a better choice for an act of defiance than the feeding of the old man in the parade. Less sentimental, more realistic.

I enjoyed the scenes in the library. I imagined the mayor's wife and those reading sessions very differently, but I loved how they were done in the movie. The relationship between the mayor's wife and Liesel worked well in the movie, even though it was much less interesting than in the novel.

Overall? An acceptable adaptation with some lovely moments, and a touching performance from Sophie Nélisse.

What did you think?


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Moonchime
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Sun Jul 22, 2018 11:37 am

Yes I think we agree on a lot of things - the main one being that I found it an enjoyable enough film to watch but I did not think it excelled in any way. It was ok but nothing more.

For me the casting of Sophie Nelisse was a mixed blessing; to begin with I think she was too sweet and calm - I did not feel the angst of her terrible situation where her mother is leaving her and her brother dies.
She refuses to come out of the car because she is traumatised but I did not feel the truth of that. She always looked sweet and charming and relatively untroubled. Lovely to watch but unconvincing in the difficult emotional turmoil that she went through.
I agree that the casting of Ben Schnetzer as Max was a good call. I also enjoyed the portrayal of their relationship and the little conversations they had with each other.
I cannot say I felt the same about Rudi - I think his casting was a mistake. He was too young and too much of a "pretty boy" for my liking. Again a perfectly nice boy but not one of enough character and grit to deliver the interesting and massively important character of Rudi. I felt the portrayal was bland and lifeless compared to the character in the book.

I too felt that Death as a narrator did not really fly in the film - I just don't think they knew how to handle it, so really it is not memorable at all, whereas in the book it feels like it is an essential part of how we view all that we are seeing. I think they either needed to be braver or perhaps not bother with the narration at all.

The characters of Hans and Rosa were not as rich and developed as in the book but I did enjoy some of the scenes between Hans and Liesel and quite liked Rush as Hans Hubberman. However I never really felt that emotionally invested with any of the characters and that inevitably makes everything just that little bit duller. I didn't quite care enough to be taken on a deep emotional journey.

Overall, perfectly pleasant for a family film, but lacking in drama, depth and, I think, realism.

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Lori
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Sat Aug 25, 2018 5:00 pm

I remember the movie and really found the book to be much better. I enjoyed your reviews immensely and concur. I think Death as the narrator was very important to me and agree the movie did not quite translate this as eloquently. I will not revisit the movie as I like being left with the echoes of the book and insights within. (I have finished chapter one of The History of Love, however. ***Snaaaap!!**)

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Dee
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Sun Aug 26, 2018 5:22 am

I don't blame you, Lori, for not wating to revisit the movie, after the book. Book trumps film in most cases, but in this case, by a long shot.

Moonchime, I very much agree with everything you said above, a very concise and fair review. You're right about Liesel's arrival and early days not showing the depth of turmoil this little girl was going through. The actress worked for me quite well after that, but you're right, she couldn't quite bring out all the colours and depths of the written character. I think only the actor who played Max managed that, which is truly remarkable, given the fact so much of his story was cut from the film.

Lori, you've finished chapter one of HoL? Yay! :08:

Eagerly awaiting your impressions!

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