The Reader (2008)

Director:

Stephen Daldry

Writers (WGA):

David Hare (screenplay)
Bernhard Schlink (book)

Release Date:

9 January 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

How far would you go to protect a secret?

Plot:

Post-WWII Germany: Nearly a decade after his affair with an older woman came to a mysterious end, law student Michael Berg re-encounters his former lover as she defends herself in a war-crime trial.

Plot Keywords:

Student | Law Student | Trial | Germany | Nazi

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 13 wins & 25 nominations

Cast

Ralph Fiennes	...	Michael Berg
Jeanette Hain	...	Brigitte
David Kross	...	Young Michael Berg
Kate Winslet	...	Hanna Schmitz
Susanne Lothar	...	Carla Berg
Alissa Wilms	...	Emily Berg
Florian Bartholomäi	...	Thomas Berg
Friederike Becht	...	Angela Berg
Matthias Habich	...	Peter Berg
Frieder Venus	...	Doctor
Marie-Anne Fliegel	...	Hanna's Neighbor
Hendrik Arnst	...	Woodyard Worker
Rainer Sellien	...	Teacher
Torsten Michaelis	...	Sports Master
Moritz Grove	...	Holger

Also Known As:

Der Vorleser (Germany)

MPAA:

Rated R for some scenes of sexuality and nudity.

Runtime:

124 min

Country:

USA | Germany

Language:

English | German | Greek | Latin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #44922) | UK:15 | Ireland:16 | Singapore:R21 | Australia:MA | Finland:K-15 | South Korea:18 | Brazil:16 | Portugal:M/16 (Qualidade) | Netherlands:12 | New Zealand:R16 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Philippines:R-18 (MTRCB) | Spain:13 | Germany:12 | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Mexico:B15 | Japan:PG-12 | Sweden:Btl | Hong Kong:III | Denmark:11 | Austria:12 | Argentina:16 | Iceland:14 | Iceland:12 (DVD rating)

Filming Locations:

Berlin, Germany

Company:

Mirage Enterprises

Trivia:

Three composers were considered to compose the original music - Nico Muhly, Ozren K. Glaser and Alberto Iglesias.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Michael is diagnosed with scarlet fever at the beginning of the film. The doctor states it would take him several months to heal, which would be true, had antibiotics not been discover and made into bacteria treatments 13 years earlier. Even then, scarlet fever does not take that long to heal in a healthy 15-year-old. In the book he has hepatitis, which would have a long recovery period.

Quotes:

Hanna Schmitz: It doesn't matter what I feel. It doesn't matter what I think. The dead are still dead.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 66th Annual Golden Globe Awards (2009) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Musik liegt in der Luft

A truly compelling film, yet not without its flaws

This is by far the most elegant film I've seen from 2008. There's something about Daldry's eye for visuals that is just perfectly attuned to my own ideas about what compelling cinema should be. Cold natural lighting, fluid compositions, and a very immediate and visceral sense of urgency that so few movies seem to achieve. The film opens on a rainy day when young Michael is taking the tram on the way home from school and, feeling rather groggy, gets off and purges on the side of the road. A peasant woman washes the bile away with a bucket and comforts the shivering boy. Despite her steely reserve a connection is forged, and once the ailing young man recovers from a bout of scarlet fever an affair soon begins.

The first act of this film unfolds with such artful eroticism and chilling atmosphere that I couldn't help but be ensnared, like Michael, by the complex creature that is Hanna Schmitz. Guarded, abrasive yet prone to flourishes of real humility and tenderness - marvel at the adventure she makes of great literature and carnal pleasures, or the spontaneous delight she finds in a singing choir - this is one of Kate Winslet's greatest performances.

David Kross's purity is the perfect foil for her shady complexity. There's something very touching about the restraint and vulnerability with which he reveals the nervous awakening of this young man. It's a very nimble performance, imbued with childlike enthusiasm and bitter bewilderment later on. Enough to crack my Top 10 in a stellar year for the leading actor category. Despite Winslet's significant screen time we never feel as an audience that we are seeing the drama unfold from Hanna Schmitz' point of view, this is Michael's story and as such he is the sole lead.

As for the Fiennes's portrayal of the older Michael - it's a quiet performance severely hindered by the fact that his scenes contain easily the weakest dialog and direction of the piece. I also found Lena Olin to be similarly stilted in her dual roles.

Of course it's all coated in a thin glaze of weighty Weinstein literary awards aspirations and unfortunately, the film does lose steam as the story goes on - the momentum of the affair does not segue seamlessly into courtroom drama as I thought it would. However, the trial sequences are truly gripping and masterfully navigated by Winslet, who provides us with several moments of magnificence, even if the crimes and personal politics involved are not explored as thoroughly as I would have liked in the screenplay. And once the crucial plea is made and the fate of Hanna Schmitz is final - the strength and impetus of the film does admittedly begin to diminish. It's a shame really, given the power of what has come before. The final act is something of an anti-climax, despite some interesting character introspection between the older Hanna and Michael - it's not as crushing or masterful a conclusion as I would have liked. However, the spectacle of Winslet bravely walking this emotional tightrope and Daldry's keen sense of drama is more than worth the price of admission.