The Reader (2008)

Set in Germany and New York during several time periods, The Reader's story begins with 15-year-old Michael Berg (the adorable David Kross) suffering the effects of scarlet fever in the street, aided only by the curt Hanna Schmitz (Kate Winslet), on her way home from work. Months later after he has recovered, Michael returns to her apartment to thank her, clearly captivated by the 30-something lonely woman. They start sleeping together, with Michael forgoing time with his friends and family to spend afternoons at her apartment (she works during the day on a trolley). Between some sex scenes Michael reads to Hanna at her request from various books he's studying in school. He quickly falls in love with her, but her cool and reserved nature remains a wedge in their relationship. After a few months, she leaves unexpectedly upon receiving a promotion to an office job and unwilling to take it.

Years later we see Michael at law school in a small lecture class taught by Professor Rohl (Bruno Ganz), who brings them to the trial of several female Nazi war criminals. To Michael's horror, the woman charged as the lead guard and instigator of the murder of 300 prisoners is Hanna Schmitz. He is now forced to observe as the woman who broke his heart tries to explain her appalling actions during the war, encapsulated in a memoir by one of the survivors. He spends the better part of his life trying to reconcile his feelings for her with the truth about her past, maintaining a closed-off persona into his later years. Throughout the film this older Michael (Ralph Fiennes) is seen dealing with the effects of Hanna's power over him, even after her death.

I found this movie incredibly interesting, intrigued as I am by German culture and the concept of German guilt. The story was engaging and fairly well-constructed, though admittedly I found some of the intermittent older Michael stuff unnecessary or ill-placed. I'm not sure what the structure of the book is like, so maybe it's a problem with the source material and not the screenplay. It was overlong, too. I liked that the film didn't really pass judgment on Hanna (aside from the judge's sentence), but allows the viewer to decide for him- or herself. Many questions arose in my mind regarding her station, personality, and options and I found myself thinking about her situation several times after it ended, wondering just how guilty she was and why she allowed her pride to effectively ruin her life. Michael's feelings are understandably complicated but not much is actually stated. So much of the movie was understated that I wasn't surprised how little we learn about him but I did find it a bit frustrating, a bit too minimalist I guess.

This served as an intriguing character study for both the former concentration camp guard trying to shut herself off from strong emotional attachments and the young man prone to infatuation and forced to reevaluate his moral code. The performances were excellent. I really enjoyed David Kross, and was impressed with how much he resembled Ralph Fiennes. Kate Winslet was exceptional, handling this very complex character with nuance and depth. She was able to make Hanna strong, coarse, unflinching, yet somehow a little sympathetic. It was nice to see some familiar German actors in the smaller roles, especially Bruno Ganz as Prof Rohl and Burghart Klaussner as the main judge.

The Reader is engaging and well-acted, but definitely not Best Picture material. Just because something deals with the Holocaust does not instantly qualify it for an Academy Award. But I guess I feel that way about a lot of the nominees this year (not the Holocaust thing, but the not deserving an award thing). I just hope Kate Winslet finally wins something because sheesh, she is talented.

4/5