“The Book Thief” Movie Reflection People always say 'the book is so much better than the movie'. In The Book Thief’s case, I agree with this statement. In my opinion, I think the original novel that Markus Zusak wrote was more captivating and told the story in a more fascinating way, including narration by Death and many other important details that were not included in the movie. For this reason, the movie did not do the book justice. Unlike the book, it felt like it was rushing through events in the beginning and the ending of the movie, but in the middle it felt slow and a little dull. The movie was still good, but I don't think it was as good as it could have been. As I mentioned before, many events from the original story were not in the movie. Some events that were in the movie got altered, which, to me, changed some effects of the story. An example of this would be when Hans stood up for the Jewish store owner getting beat by a Nazi, where in the book Hans courageously gave a Jewish man a piece of bread. The way it was written in the book seemed like more of a risk because it put his whole family in jeopardy, whereas in the movie it didn't seem as heroic. Also Alex Steiner and Hans should have left for the service at the same time, like in the book, because then Liesel and Rudy could have made a connection over their missing fathers. Although the movie made many changes, in some ways it also modified the book in a good way. One scene not in book was where Rudy and Liesel were in the woods, shouting “I hate Hitler!”. I thought this was a good addition because it was a sweet moment between them starting to become closer. Overall these added and excluded parts were mostly not complimenting the real story. I think the movie did a decent job of portraying Liesel's relationships. Like in the book, it was shown that Liesel and Rudy quickly formed a friendship that never really moved past friendship. But unlike the book, I don't think the movie showed what a love-hate relationship they had. Liesel and Rudy weren’t nearly as jokingly mean to each other as they should have been, which was what their friendship was really built on. As for Liesel's relationship with Max, I think it was exactly how I pictured it in my head when I was reading. It really showed how Liesel didn't see the differences between Max, because she only saw the similarities. On the other hand Death's role, in my opinion, was a let-down in the movie. I expected Death to be narrating throughout the entire movie, making his snide remarks. In the book, I looked forward to Death's comments because they offered some clarification and a different outlook on what was going on. But the movie only used the clever idea of using Death's narration in the beginning and end. In the middle, I had almost forgotten Death was part of the story. Also if I had not read the book, I would probably not know that it was Death narrating the story, instead of just another person. Death's sincerity towards Liesel was an important part and I think the movie excluded it. My favorite part of the movie was when Liesel, Hans, and Rosa made a snowman for Max in the basement. I liked this scene for a lot of reasons. First off, it was exactly how it was in the book. Also I think this was a really good bonding moment for Max and the Hubermanns. It showed how close Max was to them and that he was now a part of their family. My least favorite part was when they left out the Standover Man. That was such a crucial part where Max and Liesel find out how similar they are, and I was so disappointed it wasn't in the movie. I think instead of the movie helping me understand the book, the book was what helped me understand the movie. For example, if I didn't read the book, I would not have known anything about how Hans owed Max's Father from war. The movie might have been pretty confusing if I didn’t read the book. Even though “The Book Thief” movie didn't do the book justice, it is was still good at getting the point across.