Credit: IMDB

In World War II Germany, Liesel Meminger and her brother are sent to live with the Hubermann’s. On their way, Liesel’s brother dies, and at his impromptu funeral she steals a gravedigger’s hand book. Unable to read, Liesel is determined to learn and Hans Hubermann is willing to help her learn. To get more reading materials, Liesel begins to steal books and ends up sharing them with a young Jewish man the Hubermann’s hide in their basement. But war can do more harm than good, and as World War II heats up life becomes more difficult for Liesel.

Based on the book by the same name, The Book Thief is a very powerful film. I read the book a few years ago and loved it so when I heard it was being made into a movie I wanted to see it. However, I didn’t have the chance to see it when it was in the theater, and after watching it On Demand I was disappointed that I didn’t have the chance to see it sooner. If you are a fan of the book, you will definitely love the movie. The movie followed the book very closely, and I really loved that some of the lines were in German. I think it made the movie more realistic and brought something that might not have been felt in the book.

One thing about the movie that may have been lost on the viewer if they did not read the book is the fact that Death is the Narrator. He’s not as prominent in the movie as he is in the book and I don’t think it was clearly shown that the Narrator was supposed to be Death. But I am still glad they had him because I thought it was interesting and different to have Death as the narrator. In fact, it was one of the main reasons I decided to read the book in the first place.

I think The Book Thief is a great family movie. It’s powerful and sad and disturbing, but definitely good to watch with teenagers to open discussion on the topic of war and what it can do to a country.