Sharply directed and meaningful picture that Kate steals

Rating: 9/10 (12 June 2009)

Years after having an affair with Hannah Schmitz (Winslet), Michael Berg (Kross) is at law school and sees his former lover in court, defending her involvement in a war crime.
Based on Bernard Schlink's book, The Reader is a wondrous adaptation that finally answered the viewer's question as to when Kate Winslet would win an Oscar.
Kate's strong performance is not only her first Oscar winning scene stealer, but arguably one of the finest dramatic performances she has ever delivered. The English actress has certainly had an eventful career with her breakthrough romantic sweetheart in Titanic to the clunky and spontaneous Clementine in Eternal Sunshine of the spotless mind. Both Oscar nominations but against Helen Hunt in 1997 and Hilary Swank in 2005, there was perhaps a lacking in intense drama to be a true contender. Both fantastic performances, but the academy certainly favours those dramatic performances and here, there is certainly no shortage on the drama front.
Set in Germany after the Second World War, Schmitz and Berg form a controversial relationship where Schmitz holds the ropes over the teenager. The formation of this relationship is a charming opening. There is no baggage for developing the character's background and we are virtually straight into the shocking manor of the sexual pairing of the two central protagonists.
From Schmitz's hidden secret to Berg's obedience there are certainly a few complications along with the buoyancy and free nature of the affair. And therein lies the drama, and along with it some rightfully deserved Oscar nominations and a finally rewarded recognition for Britain's most promising actress.
The beginning of the story establishes the intricate bonds of Berg's confinement in his own home under the watchful eye of his family where Schmitz discovers she has problems living alone. The realistic concepts brings the viewer's right down to earth with a wonderful scripted screenplay that at first keeps the dialogue as minimalistic as possible as the scene setting gets a wonderful work over by director Daldry. The story is then notched up into a more controversial drama as the affair escalades and brings around a sad moment half way through. Years after the affair when Berg sees Schmitz in court does the drastic implication of the war and political opinions come to the screen.
There are issues of Post war implications, Jew imprisonment and punishment in prison that are all heavily debated in the court case that demonstrates the power of the law against doing what is right.
When Ralph Fiennes enters the picture do we see a soft and meaningful feeling of sorrow and depression that rightfully explains his actions, which rounds off the collection of acting performances and though this a wondrously scripted and directed picture, it will be remembered for an astounding performance by Winslet.