Those who have read the book on which this film is based have it as one of the books that made them cry the most.
Being the emotional kind that will wail as I read or watch a touching or sad flick, I knew that I could not watch this film in public. When I finally watched it, to my surprise, I did not cry that much. Book Thief is such a sad movie. It is narrated by “death”, who heartlessly tells us which people’s lives he is going to claim while managing to keep some suspense. It centres around a little curious girl, Liesel Meminer (Sophie Nelisse), who steals books because she likes to read and learn about new things.
She was not always like this. The first time she stole one, it was in remembrance of her brother. Then, she did not even know how to read. But she later learnt how to read and write and since then, she kept on stealing books whenever she could. Liesel is adopted by a woman (Emily Watson) who acts like a witch yet she has such a big heart. Her foster father Hans (Geoffrey Rush) dots around her and lets her do as she pleases. And she instantly becomes friends with Rudy (Nico Liersch), a boy from the neighbourhood and it seems like she will have a great childhood after all. But her country goes to war, death goes on rampage and her world turns upside down. Using the million words she has learnt from all the stolen books, Liesel tries to make it a better place for all. But can words really shut out bullets?