The Book Thief Film ReviewTuesday January 13, 2015

Crystal 2022-03-21 09:01:46

The movie I watched last week, and I'm only here to give a review, it really shouldn't be.

Anyway, the movie I watched is still in the IMDB top1000 completion plan, a war movie "Book Thief" that seems to be shot in Europe.

Different from the perspective of war films usually considered, this film starts with the identity of a little girl, looking at the ugliness of war through the changes in the lives of ordinary people, so it is actually biased towards drama films, but the main theme is war. There is also a very special third-person narrator in the film, who turns out to be the god of death, which is a small innovation.

The story begins when the little girl's brother dies of illness and herself is adopted. According to a slightly outdated routine, the new home on this small street called "Paradise" has a kind and tolerant stepfather and a fierce stepmother; there are classmates who bully newcomers at school, and there are children who are eager to help themselves and successfully become childhood sweethearts. Partner; in order to highlight the theme of war, a stepfather's benefactor's son was also added as a kind big brother who was persecuted by the German Nazis.

The narrative in the film is not pleasing, and the style is slightly bland. The characters' English seems a bit blunt and unskilled, which inevitably makes people feel that they are acting reluctantly, creating a psychological sense of alienation. I think it would be much better if they were dubbed in skilled German. Corresponding to the narrative style, the expressions of the characters in the film are not exaggerated most of the time, as plain as a bowl of pure boiled water. This kind of treatment is of course relatively close to reality, but it requires more suspense or ups and downs in the plot to make the audience watch it patiently.

The number of turning points in the plot is enough, but perhaps because the content is a bit too complicated, most of the turning points are presented directly, which cannot resonate enough against the plain narrative style. The most impressive part may be the scene where the stepfather was blown up by a mine in the car. He lacked in-depth characterization. After he came back, he only brought it over with a line, which seemed pale and powerless. There are also sections of suspense, the most outstanding is the section of the basement inspection, but overall it is quite satisfactory and not impressive.

Let's talk about character conflicts and transformations - there are not many character conflicts in this film. At the beginning, the stepmother played the role of the villain, but it changed quickly. For most of the time, the family worked together to overcome the difficulties. of. In the process, the stepmother's transformation seems a bit sudden and unconvincing.

Finally, the title of the film: "The Book Thief". In fact, the relationship between the book and the heroine is still very obvious. The heroine picked up her first book at the funeral and began to read and became interested in reading under the encouragement of her stepfather; in the process of burning the book, the heroine realized the ugliness of the Nazis; in the mayor's library, She met the kind-hearted mayor's wife; in the days when her eldest brother was seriously ill, the "stolen" book became her spiritual support and a good recipe to support her eldest brother to persevere, and so on. It is a pity that the books in the film have not been presented very deeply. If it can correspond to the development of the plot and show the famous sentences in the book, the effect is believed to complement each other.

Finally, to sum up. The film "The Book Thief", with a bland narrative, presents audiences with the ugliness of war from another angle. The plot is rich, but the tension is insufficient, but the exquisite pictures in the film are enough to make people spend two beautiful hours, giving 7 points.

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Extended Reading
  • Lera 2021-11-27 08:01:17

    Many movies have narration throughout, but the special thing about this film is that the narrator himself is death. A very warm story, the characters are very successful, showing the goodness of human nature of different personalities. But the rhythm is too flat, the final ending is very sad, and the sugar is too heavy. I may be moved and liked it when I watch it, but it is easy to forget afterwards. The music is sad but also, hopeful. @Park Terrace 6

The Book Thief quotes

  • [from trailer]

    Liesel Meminger: Is that your book?

    Max Vandenburg: It wasn't always mine.

  • [from trailer]

    Max Vandenburg: If your eyes could speak, what would they say?