Release CalendarTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersEmmysSTARmeter AwardsSan Diego Comic-ConNew York Comic-ConSundance Film FestivalToronto Int'l Film FestivalAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

The Reader

  • 20082008
  • RR
  • 2h 4m
IMDb RATING
7.6/10
244K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
943
102
Ralph Fiennes, Kate Winslet, and David Kross in The Reader (2008)
Post-WWII Germany: Nearly a decade after his affair with an older woman came to a mysterious end, a law student re-encounters his former lover (Winslet) as she testifies in a war-crimes trial.
Play trailer2:31
7 Videos
99+ Photos
DramaRomance
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-crim... Read allPost-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.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.
IMDb RATING
7.6/10
244K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
943
102
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Director
      • Stephen Daldry
    • Writers
      • David Hare(screenplay)
      • Bernhard Schlink(book "Der Vorleser")
    • Stars
      • Kate Winslet
      • Ralph Fiennes
      • Bruno Ganz
    Top credits
    • Director
      • Stephen Daldry
    • Writers
      • David Hare(screenplay)
      • Bernhard Schlink(book "Der Vorleser")
    • Stars
      • Kate Winslet
      • Ralph Fiennes
      • Bruno Ganz
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 488User reviews
    • 292Critic reviews
    • 58Metascore
    • Won 1 Oscar
      • 26 wins & 48 nominations total

    Videos7

    The Reader: Trailer
    Trailer 2:31
    The Reader: Trailer
    The Reader
    Clip 1:15
    The Reader
    The Reader
    Clip 1:02
    The Reader
    The Reader
    Clip 0:57
    The Reader
    The Reader
    Clip 0:54
    The Reader
    The Reader
    Clip 1:38
    The Reader
    The Reader
    Interview 31:10
    The Reader

    Photos134

    Kate Winslet in The Reader (2008)
    Ralph Fiennes in The Reader (2008)
    Kate Winslet and David Kross in The Reader (2008)
    Kate Winslet and David Kross in The Reader (2008)
    Kate Winslet and David Kross in The Reader (2008)
    Kate Winslet and David Kross in The Reader (2008)
    Amy Irving at an event for The Reader (2008)
    Ralph Fiennes, Kate Winslet, and David Kross at an event for The Reader (2008)
    David Kross at an event for The Reader (2008)
    Elie Wiesel at an event for The Reader (2008)
    Georgina Chapman at an event for The Reader (2008)
    Haaz Sleiman at an event for The Reader (2008)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Kate Winslet
    Kate Winslet
    • Hanna Schmitz
    Ralph Fiennes
    Ralph Fiennes
    • Michael Berg
    Bruno Ganz
    Bruno Ganz
    • Professor Rohl
    Jeanette Hain
    Jeanette Hain
    • Brigitte
    David Kross
    David Kross
    • Young Michael Berg
    Susanne Lothar
    Susanne Lothar
    • Carla Berg
    Alissa Wilms
    Alissa Wilms
    • Emily Berg
    Florian Bartholomäi
    Florian Bartholomäi
    • Thomas Berg
    Friederike Becht
    Friederike Becht
    • Angela Berg
    Matthias Habich
    Matthias Habich
    • Peter Berg
    Frieder Venus
    • Doctor
    Marie-Anne Fliegel
    • Hanna's Neighbour
    • (as Marie Anne Fliegel)
    Hendrik Arnst
    • Woodyard Worker
    Rainer Sellien
    Rainer Sellien
    • Teacher
    Torsten Michaelis
    • Sports Master
    Moritz Grove
    • Holger
    Joachim Tomaschewsky
    • Stamp Dealer
    Barbara Philipp
    • Waitress
    • Director
      • Stephen Daldry
    • Writers
      • David Hare(screenplay)
      • Bernhard Schlink(book "Der Vorleser")
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    More like this

    Revolutionary Road
    7.3
    Revolutionary Road
    Little Children
    7.5
    Little Children
    The Hours
    7.5
    The Hours
    The English Patient
    7.4
    The English Patient
    Malena
    7.4
    Malena
    Atonement
    7.8
    Atonement
    Match Point
    7.6
    Match Point
    Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
    7.5
    Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
    Vicky Cristina Barcelona
    7.1
    Vicky Cristina Barcelona
    Closer
    7.2
    Closer
    An Education
    7.3
    An Education
    Blue Jasmine
    7.3
    Blue Jasmine

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      To avoid legal consequences, the crew delayed the filming of sexually-explicit scenes until after actor David Kross' 18th birthday on July 4, 2008.
    • Goofs
      When Michael visits New York in 1988, the cab he is in is followed by modern-day cars including a 2000s GMC SUV behind all the period vehicles.
    • 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, it will give it spice. 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.

    • Crazy credits
      There are no opening credits, other than the studio logo.
    • Connections
      Featured in The 14th Annual Critics' Choice Awards (2009)
    • Soundtracks
      Musik liegt in der Luft
      Written by Heinz Gietz, Kurt Feltz

      Performed by Caterina Valente

      Courtesy of M.A.T. Musice Theme Licensing Ltd.

    User reviews488

    Review
    Review
    Top review
    8/10
    A Great Read
    We don't know. We think we do but we don't. We make decisions or sometimes decisions are made for us but we think we've made them. Then suddenly, there we are. We can't be certain how we got there or where we will be when everything settles but we do know that we are alive. Some experiences are life altering and we can run from them or embrace them. Staying to see them through though can bring incredible bliss but also tormented turmoil. We just never know. One such experience was had by a young Michael Berg (David Kross) and is chronicled in Stephen Daldry's THE READER. How could he know that when he pulled into an alley to be sick that he would meet the woman who would shape his entire life? How could he know that getting close to her would pull him the furthest he's ever been from himself?

    Of course, when you're a sixteen-year-old boy and a woman who looks like Kate Winslet disrobes in front of you in the privacy of her bathroom, how much thought really goes into the decision that has presented itself? However little it is, it is certainly less than is warranted. This is especially true in West Germany of 1958. This is a Germany that is uncertain how to proceed, how to be its new self in the eyes of the world and the eyes of its very own future generations. Winslet plays Hanna Schmitz, a compassionate woman but also abrasive and stern. Winslet strikes the perfect balance between directness and desire in Schmitz, making her complexities part of her appeal. She is a good fifteen years older than the young Berg and she knows much better than he of her country's history. What he knows, he has read in books, been taught in school. What she knows, she lived first hand. So when the two come together, naked in each other's arms, the meeting is as redemptive as it is passionate. Berg is just happy to be in love and having sex but Schmitz is washing herself clean with the youthful vigor of Germany's tomorrow.

    The summer ends and so does the affair, as one would expect. Just when it would seem that the two would never meet again, life steps in to ensure that past decisions, perhaps made in haste, can come to see their consequences. Berg has grown some and is a college man, studying to be a lawyer, when he catches sight of Hanna Schmitz again. Their latest chance encounter is far less exciting though as he sees her on a class outing to a courthouse. Schmitz is on trial for crimes against humanity for her time as an officer in the Nazi party during the Second World War. Berg's memory of his first love would now become a question of his own morality. How could he love someone who was now accused of such atrocities? How could he be so intimate with someone he apparently never truly knew? And yet, now that he knows her past, does he really know how her past came to be? After all, what is the face of evil? Is it Hanna Schmitz or is it something incredibly bigger than her?

    Ralph Fiennes is the future of Germany. He plays Berg as an adult. His life is orderly, very clean, crisp and cold. He made decisions that made him the man he is and he can never say whether they were the right ones or not. What he can see is that we all make decisions that either hurt or harm other people and that the atrocities committed by his past generations are not as far outside the realm of understanding as he might have originally thought. More importantly, redemption is not that far either.
    helpful•72
    28
    • moutonbear25
    • Jan 10, 2009

    FAQ4

    • Is "The Reader" based on a book?
    • Is this movie in English or German with subtitles?
    • Where in Germany is the movie set?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • January 30, 2009 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • Germany
      • United States
    • Official site
      • Official site (Germany)
    • Languages
      • English
      • German
      • Greek
      • Latin
    • Also known as
      • Người Đọc Sách
    • Filming locations
      • Kirnitzschtal, Sächsische Schweiz, Saxony, Germany
    • Production companies
      • The Weinstein Company
      • Mirage Enterprises
      • Studio Babelsberg
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $32,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $34,194,407
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $168,051
      • Dec 14, 2008
    • Gross worldwide
      • $108,902,486
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      2 hours 4 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • DTS
      • Dolby Digital
      • SDDS
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    Ralph Fiennes, Kate Winslet, and David Kross in The Reader (2008)
    Top Gap
    What is the streaming release date of The Reader (2008) in Canada?
    Answer
    • See more gaps
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    View list
    List
    New & Upcoming Superhero Movies and Series
    See the full list
    View list
    List
    Fall TV Guide: The Best Shows Coming This Year
    See the full list
    View image
    Photos
    Double Take: Celebrity Twins
    See the full list
    Back to top

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    Sign in for more access
    Sign in for more access
    • Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • IMDb Developer
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Interest-Based Ads
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2022 by IMDb.com, Inc.