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:

Law Student | Trial | Student | Germany | Nazi

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 14 wins & 27 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 Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | 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:

Hendrik Maaß, who plays Michael's court house assistant (uncredited role), had been vocationally trained as a paralegal in real life for some time.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Older Michael first gets into his car, it is completely covered with dew or raindrops. In the following scene, the car is totally dry.

Quotes:

Michael: I'm not frightened. I'm not frightened of anything. The more I suffer, the more I love. Danger will only increase my love. It will sharpen it, forgive its vice. I will be the only angel you need. You will leave life even more beautiful than you entered it. Heaven will take you back and look at you and say: Only one thing can make a soul complete and that thing is love.

Movie Connections:

Featured in 15th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards (2009) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Don't look back

A thoughtful and plausible examination of guilt.

Very well acted and presented and a faithful representation of the main points of the novel on which it is based. This film encourages us to look closely at very difficult issues surrounding the atrocities of World War II. I am at a loss to understand why so many critics have been so damning of it. Perhaps it is too subtle for them to understand. It seeks to outlaw the false and intellectually lazy theory to explain the holocaust, namely that the horrors were committed by monsters. In its place we are offered contextualization, not as excuse but as explanation of how quite ordinary people were able to do extraordinarily dreadful things. We avoid these uncomfortable facts at our peril.