The Reader is a 2008 British drama film based on the 1995 German novel of the same name by Bernhard Schlink. The film adaptation was written by David Hare and directed by Stephen Daldry. Ralph Fiennes and Kate Winslet star along with the young actor David Kross.
The Reader tells the story of Michael Berg, a German lawyer who as a teenager in the late 1950s had an affair with a woman 21 years his senior, Hanna Schmitz, who then disappeared only to resurface years later as one of the defendants in a war crimes trial stemming from her actions as a concentration camp guard late in the war. Hanna is also illiterate and is embarrassed to admit it which costs her to be convicted of the war crime and is sentenced to life in prison.
My View
After doing a bit of research about this movie, I discovered a few interesting things about the novel from which this movie is based on. It basically shows the Holocust in a different light by showing a Nazi’s side of the story, so to speak. However, since I haven’t read the book yet, I cannot in tell you more about the book so you’ll have to wait until I have read it.
To say I was shocked is an understatement because this film had some really shocking parts. From scenes showing body parts best kept covered and sex scenes with a minor, it is a movie not for the straight and narrow minded. It is not a movie that is all about sex though but it does quite a bit of it, albeit tastefully done.
Hanna and Michael’s relationship is a bit odd with them having ritualistic sexual acts of him reading aloud to Hanna before doing the deed. It is later revealed in the film that Hanna is illiterate which explains most of her actions.
For the most part of the movie, I was touched by Hanna’s impact on Michael’s life, leading to Michael’s divorce from his wife to how Hanna taught herself how to read using the tapes Michael sent her in prison. After their affair ended, Michael and Hanna only meet again a few days before Hanna is released from prison where they have a pretty interesting conversation that had me in tears the second time. Believe me, the things that they spoke to each other touched me for an unknown reason.
This movie is again another must see however, be sure to brace yourself for the scenes to come. Winslet really dellivered in this movie and I give it FIVE STARS.
