The acting, casting, setting and music made the story more magical and less...harsh? The scene with Hans and Liesel walking down the basement stairs with he vocabulary on the wall made me cry (what a typical Language Arts teacher's response, right?) I especially liked Rosa in the film--probably because she seemed more human--when Liesel found her on the bed with Hans' accordion? Powerful. Max was better looking than I expected (for a dying man!) but his relationship with Liesel was just what I had imagined. And Death, who could forget his voice? Yes, the narrator sets up the film version and calmly tells his tale. It works!
For those of you who read this book, you remember the WORDS are POWERFUL theme in this novel. The movie made the words even more powerful. Well done. If you get a chance to see it, respond here so I can read what you thought.