The story opens in post-WWII Germany when teenager Michael Berg becomes ill and is helped home by Hanna, a stranger twice his age. Michael recovers from scarlet fever and seeks out Hanna to thank her. The two are quickly drawn into a passionate but secretive affair. Despite their intense bond, Hanna mysteriously disappears one day and Michael is left confused and heartbroken. Eight years later, while Michael is a law student observing the Nazi war crime trials, he is stunned to find Hanna back in his life - this time as a defendant in the courtroom. As Hanna's past is revealed, Michael uncovers a deep secret that will impact both of their lives.
by calyx_07
on 01/10/2009 4 of 5 people found this review helpful
The film's ending felt like .... to me. I don't know what to make out of it. Not that I didn't enjoy it but the plot is strange and complex and perhaps too complex for most of us to grasp its intent.
The pace picks up as the illicit affair begins between Hanna and the young Micheal. The intense sexual scenes between a young boy and a woman twice his age satisfying each other’s carnal desires do not make very pleasant sights. Maybe that is the director's intention - to grab one’s attention and let the uneasiness sink in to create a lingering effect on the audience. But there are some sweet moments. They are times when both find amusement during the Micheal’s reading sessions to Hannah and their holiday trip.
The film seems to want to bring out the severe consequences one’s inaction or actions has on others. Hannah’s seduction on young Micheal which leaves ripples of pain in his memory and resulted in him disconnecting emotionally from the world … Hannah’s duty as a prison camp guard and thus her inaction to save the Jewish prisoners, sacrificing them in a fire… Micheal’s inaction to potentially save Hannah due to some confidential information he has…
It is filmed in Germany, tone is slow and melancholic. I like it for its acting. David Kross as Micheal, was 18 when he acted in this film and the kid proved his talents. Kate Winslet, she’s the Oscar Queen already! Ralph Fiennes, in my opinion, did not contribute much to the credit. Strange film, leaves you feeling a little bewildered but still worth the time if you like serious acting.
Easily the weakest of Stephen Daldry's three feature-length films, "The Reader" is a muted, half-baked examination of German guilt that does however come off as very accessible compared to the rest of his works.
The regrettable absence of a Philip Glass score and a less meditative narration have turned it into a people-pleasing mainstream piece that'd have sunk if not for the Oscar-winning performance from Kate Winslet, one of the finest British actresses from her generation. It'd be impossible to discuss this film without referring to her fragile yet angry, womanly countenance, a precision in acting that does elevate the film to another level of cinematic delight.
"The Reader", to risk a spoiler, isn't a Nazi or Holocaust movie. Clocking in under two hours (post-censorship), we're taken on the psychosexual adventure of one Michael Berg, who chances upon an older woman named Hanna Schmitz one summer and subsequently experiences an affair most 15-year-olds never get. Years later after the ordeal, he ends up an aspiring lawyer in court, listening in to the case of his one-time lover who is now being tried for war crimes. It's a fleeting love story just as much as it is a study of shame and guilt.
The greatest triumph of this movie is the humanisation of Hanna Schmitz as the SS guard - it was a wonderful and completely plausible explanation on how ordinary people could do horrendous things when we're on the outside looking in. Kate Winslet has done much better than this ("Holy Smoke" 1999, "Sense And Sensibility" 1995) but her intense, 'annoyed' portrayal of an older lover is absolutely delightful to watch. The casting of young David Kross (who learned English for the movie and was afforded a special scheduling arrangement so that his sex scenes could be filmed when he turned 18) is creepy because he looks so much like the late Heath Ledger. However, together with the old Michael Berg (played by Ralph Fiennes) and other peripherals like Lena Olin, it was always a line-up that seemed to be built around Winslet's stellar performance, although it obviously wasn't meant to.
Still, the biggest grouse against Daldry's third film is his decision to understate things, despite a successful partnership with David Hare to adhere to Bernhard Schlink's source material.
"The Reader" was the least watched and least known Best Picture nomination at the Oscars. This is still a very good chance to catch it and discover some compelling, though flawed, European drama.
Production Photos - Click thumbnail for larger photos
