Directed by:
Stephen DaldryScreenplay:
David HareComposer:
Nico MuhlyCast:
Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes, David Kross, Lena Olin, Bruno Ganz, Jeanette Hain, Susanne Lothar, Alissa Wilms, Florian Bartholomäi, Friederike Becht (more)VOD (3)
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The Reader, set in post-WWII Germany, follows teenager Michael Berg as he engages in a passionate but secretive affair with an older woman named Hanna. Eight years after Hanna s disappearance, Michael is stunned to discover her again as she stands on trial for Nazi war crimes. The Reader is a haunting story about truth and reconciliation and how one generation comes to terms with the crimes of another. (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (9)
The part that takes place in the fifties is proof that pedophile soft porn and a story don’t go well together. The voyage through the sixties raises hopes that it would turn to some burning questions regarding collective guilt, the need to find a scape goat and to hypocritical verdicts for “the nation’s peace of mind". But no more than two or three sentences are uttered about that. And the final twenty years are good, but nothing more than just good. It’s a crying shame that the Germans didn’t adapt the book themselves. At a time when German cinema is experiencing a historic boom, when they settle up accounts with one historical skeleton in the closet after another, it would fit beautifully into their clutch of movies. They certainly have the actors for it (in fact apart from Kate and Ralph everybody’s German here). Plus it would be in German which would significantly add to the authenticity. And the English with a would-be German accent is torture to the ears.
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If this film was supposed to be primarily a drama about responsibility, guilt, and punishment, it failed to evoke the relevant emotions and catharsis in me. The film combines two problems: the relationship between a 15-year-old boy and a woman from an older generation, and the conflict arising from the young woman's involvement in war crimes. I am not familiar with the book, so I cannot assess to what extent the film's shortcomings stem from the literary material or the screenplay. However, some motifs and layers of the characters' relationship remained hidden or failed to captivate me. The stronger problem in general seemed to be the relationship between two unequal sexual partners. The genesis of this relationship is not particularly shocking, although it is certainly one of the few taboos that still exist today. Post-war Germany had to deal with the problem that millions of men had fallen on the front lines, so women found various ways to help themselves. The aspect of crime and punishment does not work for two reasons: firstly because the protagonist's involvement in the crimes is unquestionable, and secondly, because this line is overshadowed by the bizarreness of the whole plot and the main character. The characters seemed too flat to me, and the film felt dragged out. Overall impression: 55%.
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To be honest, I don't understand why I liked The Reader so much. I’m absolutely immune to Kate Winslet's feminine charms, David Kross strikes me as a terribly shallow actor, and the story is just another cloying and wannabe thought-provoking tale about tragic love. But the narrative is so gripping, atmospheric, emotionally charged and, in the case of Winslet and Fiennes, superbly acted, that Rosamunde Pilcher should give up on romance novels and get into science fiction. But to be fair to Kross, the chemistry between him and Kate is perfect, and their scenes together are definitely the highlight of the film. As a self-proclaimed tough guy, I didn't need any tissues, but the power of the story still hit me with such a creeping impact that I will never forget it. Strong 4*.
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An incredibly powerful and emotive film that doesn't just use World War II to evoke emotions, but presents a beautiful and poignant story that stands on its own. Yes, the war is certainly important here, but the story would hold up even in slightly different circumstances. An acting showcase by the main cast and director Daldry.
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It is, of course, excellent that attention has been drawn to the subject of the Frankfurt Auschwitz trials from 1963 to 1965. Kate Winslet is an interesting choice for the lead role, and although we know she can act, she is after all too familiar to us for such complex characters. It would be interesting to see a good German actress in this role. Bernhard Schlink wrote a book that aroused many emotions, questions, and discussions. The many themes that run through it like a red thread seemingly fit together only with difficulty. But the opposite is true. Very controversial are the parts depicting interviews with law students of the 1960s and the final meeting with a former victim. Personally, I find the whole tone of the novel's fiction extremely problematic, but that's not Schlink's fault, it's the problem of the general phenomenon of denazification. The course of history cannot be changed by punishing the weakest link. Note that it is impossible to deal with the Holocaust in this way.
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