Film Review: The Book Thief

Hey everyone! Recently I went to see The Book Thief at the cinema for my birthday. I have the book and have read it, like, 4 times but it was a while ago so, while I remembered the main events, I can't remember the book in detail. This is good (for me) because it means I can watch the film as a film, not compare it ruthlessly to the book. This post is a review of the film, and will NOT mention the book in length. However, watching the film has really made me want to read the book again, so look out for a review of the book, AND possibly a comparison post in the future. But, back to the film!

This is the UK film poster, and I saw it on the 28th February (it came out on the 26th in England.)

What's going on?

The Book Thief is narrated by Death, and follows a young girl named Liesel Meminger who is sent to live with Rosa and Hans Hubermann alone after her brother dies as they are traveling across the country. Liesel makes friends with Rudy, a young boy who lives next door to the Hubermanns. Liesel starts to settle into life with the Hubermanns,; however, more chaos arrives in the form of Max, a young Jew who escaped the Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass) with a set of false documents and not a lot more and seeks refuge with Hans Hubermann, who knew Max's father. Max hides in the Hubermanns basement for a while as Germany becomes more and more unstable and dangerous. Men go off to fight and return from the front-line but, as the Third Reich gets stronger and the War nears its end, ultimately no one can completely escape the horrors of war or the devastation of the bombs.

So how was it?

I don't know whether I'm just a complete, emotional sap when it comes to, well anything really, but the tears were pouring pretty much every second from when Liesel's brother died - and that was the very first thing to happen! But it wasn't just me. There were plenty of times when the rest of the audience was in tears too. I thought the film was actually pretty good. There was a nice balance between the lighthearted, "child" moments that Liesel and Rudy share, and the adult themes that neither of them quite understand but both know are bad.

One thing I wasn't so impressed by was Death as a narrator/commentator. I understand it must be very hard to use Death exactly as it is in the book - an observer, narrating and commenting on events in an ironic sort of manner - but in the film Death seemed to just be a simple narrator to take the audience into each new setting or event. Also, although the film was emotional enough (did I mention I was severely dehydrated because of the amount of tears shed?) it lacked the depth of the book. The whole film was, not childish, but certainly not descriptive and I can't help but feel that it didn't do important events in history (such as the Kristallnacht) justice.

Final thoughts

The Book Thief was a good film, one I very much enjoyed. Although I was slightly disappointed by the lack of depth in it, I still felt attached enough to the characters and plot to be completely distraught at several parts. Also, the acting was so impressive, especially Sophie Nelisse (Liesel), and I found I could really connect with the characters. Every actor/actress made their character seem so real, and they all had great screen chemistry which made watching them a joy to watch. I definitely want to see this film again, and am already looking forward to the DVD! I would give The Book Thief 3.7 out of 5, and have already recommended it to all of my friends.

I hope you enjoyed this review! If you've seen The Book Thief, please comment and tell me what you thought. Is it as good as the book? What did you think of the casting? See you again soon!

February Wrap Up and March Goals

Hey everyone. As promised, this post is a February wrap up and March goals type thing - basically all the books I've read in the month of February and the books I plan on reading in March. This will be a monthly feature, I think, to help me keep up with myself. So, let's crack on!

February Wrap Up

• The first book I read in February was Gypsy Wedding Dreams by Thelma Madine. I quite enjoyed this book, and it only took a few days to read in those little boring moments of the day. I did a review of this, which you can find here.
• The second book was Flour Babies by Anne Fine. This was a shortish one that I never actually did a review on. I've read it a few times before and, although it's far from a favourite of mine, I read it just to pass a lunchtime at college. It was okay, but I would only read it if I was needed something quick to fill some time, and I wouldn't necessarily recommend it eagerly to people.
• The third book of February was Bog Child by Siobhan Dowd. As you might remember from my review of this one (which can be found here), I really enjoyed this book. It was pretty fast paced, and so quick to get through, but you didn't feel like you were rushing it. I would definitely recommend this one, so pick it up and read if you ever see it around. I'd never heard of it before I spotted it in the library and borrowed it for one of my reading challenges, but I'm so glad I picked it up.
• The final book I read in February is Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce. Although I put my review for this (here) up in March, I finished it on the last day of February. I really did enjoy this book; it put an interesting spin on classic themes, and I'd like to read the rest of Pearce's fairytale retelling series. I would also highly recommend this one.

March Goals

My goal for March is really just to finish all the books I'm currently reading before I start anymore. I'm halfway through several and I think I need to finish them (or at least most of them) before I try to start any others. I did a post on my ongoing reads in February here and, although I've finished one of them by now, I've also added two to the list. I know, I know. I'm more than 3/4 way through three of them though, so look out for reviews of those soon.

Reading Challenges

My reading challenge sign up post is here. The goals I set myself are: Explorer Level (6-10 books) for the Nonfiction Challenge; 15 books for the Fur & Fangs Challenge; and Shamrock level (4 books) for the Ireland Challenge.
So far, I've read 1 book for the Nonfiction Challenge (here), 1 book for the Ireland Challenge (here) and 1 book for the Fur & Fangs Challenge (here). Pretty good going, I think, for 2 months into the year. 

So that's my wrap up and goals for this month. Hope you all had a good February - if you do a February Wrap Up and March Goals post too then put a comment on this post and I'll check it out. I think my next post will be a review of The Book Thief film (which I saw for my birthday), and I also have some more book reviews and another regular feature project that I'm really excited about. See you soon!