Excellent film based on excellent book

Rating: 10/10 (2 March 2017)

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!