Purely Joyful Movie!

Beautiful, moving film.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

I havent read the book, however I was very moved by the movie! Seldom have I been captivated by a story about war before but this is different. Liesle, hans and rudy specifically are unbelievably real. I think its an undertrates movie

Before the second world war, after meeting her adoptive family and learning how to read and write, a girl falls in love with books which happen to become banned by the Nazi. While struggling in her new life, poverty being very common, she makes new and unexpected friends, one of them being a Jew hidden in her family's basement, and starts "borrowing" books from a wealthy family which had a full library of them.The girl's life is presented in a dramatic manner with her strong emotions, her adventures, her losses and gains. It's tense in a lot of situations due to its harsh conditions, generated mainly by the upcoming war, but it manages to maintain suspense until the end. It's hard to explain in a few words what happens but I can guarantee that it's worth your time especially if you enjoy such movies with kids, which by the way, play some great roles!

I loved the movie so much on first viewing that I went out and bought the book. One of those occasions however where the movie is better than the written word. It surprises me that it seemed somewhat overlooked when on first release. Yes it is a bit too sentimental in places but that is what movies are sometimes meant to be, to take us out of our drab existence. The soundtrack is excellent too and by John Williams of course. In time I expect this to be a Christmas Day movie.

A friend told me "The Book Thief" was her favorite book. So naturally, respecting her opinion (she is a college English professor, after all) I had to find out what makes this so wonderful.First of all, the film is a beautiful experience. You may find it difficult to imagine that you could relate to, and sympathize with, a group of average patriotic German citizens during the Nazi years. The events in Germany between 1938 and 1945 as seen through the eyes of a young girl (the book thief of the title) remind the reader/viewer, however, that these are just ordinary people going about their ordinary lives with the horror of the Holocaust and the other excesses of Nazi Germany as a background. The people seem to be too busy surviving, for the most part, to object to the political and social evils surrounding them. They were also terrified that drawing attention to themselves - any attention - would result in their "disappearing" as a number of the characters in the story "disappear." A young girl learns to read with the inspiration and help of her adoptive father, her best friend, the Burgomeister's wife, and a Jewish fugitive hiding in the basement.The acting is superb! Sophie Nelisse is breathtaking as the central character, Liesl. Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson are wonderful as Liesl's adoptive parents. Also notable are Nico Liersch as Rudy, Ben Schnetzer as Max, and Barbara Auer as Frau Hermann.Read the book, watch the film - or better yet, do both!