Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Book-to-Film: The Book Thief

Sunday afternoon conversation between my husband and me:

Me: Guess what?  The Oscars are tonight!
Husband: Nobody cares.

Despite what my lovely husband may think, a lot of people really do care about the Oscars.  (Including, I suspect, Cate Blanchett and Matthew McConaughey.)  I usually enjoy watching them, so long as the host isn't too offensive.  (I'M LOOKING AT YOU, SETH MACFARLANE.)  This year's show was smooth and pleasant with Ellen DeGeneres at the helm.  It was especially nice to watch them with my husband, who may or may not have watched them with me.  I can neither confirm nor deny those allegations.  

The one dark shadow over the proceedings was the lack of Oscar love for The Book Thief.  I realize that the Oscar awards are totally subjective, but I was still really sad that The Book Thief only had one nomination (Best Original Score) and didn't even win in the category in which it was nominated.

I saw The Book Thief in theatres a few months ago and loved it.  It exceeded every expectation I had.  Really, it was a lovely, lovely film with so much heart.  It was truly magical.  I was disappointed that it received so little recognition from the Academy, but let it never be said that it received little recognition from Bookmark Dragon.  If I ran the world, The Book Thief would have received the following awards:

1. Best Ensemble Cast
Geoffrey Rush and Sophie Nelisse were phenomenal, but the supporting cast was just as wonderful, from secretly tender-hearted Rosa to conflicted Max to lovable Rudy.  I loved them all.

2. Best Cinematography
Every shot was a work of art.  You need only to see the trailer to find evidence of that.

3. Best Costume Design
The outfits were exactly how I imagined them.  Major props to the costume design team.

4. Best Original Score
The music was moving and atmospheric and enchanting.

5. Best Adapted Screenplay
I thought nothing could do Markus Zusak's book justice.  But this script did the impossible and turned a masterful book into a masterful film.

Do yourself a favor and watch the film!  (Read the book first, of course.  But do watch the film as well.)

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