6 Films Based On Books To Get Excited About In 2014

6. The Book Thief

Written by Markus Zusak and released in 2006, The Book Thief is the story of a young girl named Liesel Meminger who is sent to Muinch and adopted by a German family during the Second World War. Though at first things don't seem so bad she soon starts to witness first-hand the horror of the Nazi Party as tensions begin to rise in Germany between the Nazis and the Jewish community. Add to this the worries within her new home over the Jewish man hidden in the basement and things start to look bleak for Liesel. A film which has so far been met with mixed but generally positive reviews, it does feel that of all the films on the list this is the one that could fall significantly short of the book. A very important aspect of the book is that it is narrated by Death, and the film has opted for the same narrator. A choice that made the book what it was, this could prove difficult to translate to the screen without the narration becoming a distraction from the story itself (although the decision to have Roger Allam voice Death is nothing short of brilliant). Ignoring the mixed reviews, the film boasts a stellar cast including Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson, not to mention a soundtrack by John Williams, which is enough to turn any average film into the greatest of feel-good films. So in summary, definitely a film to get excited about, but perhaps air on the side of caution if you are a big fan of the book.