A moving experience

Rating: 10/10 (12 September 2015)

The Reader is a complex and fascinating tale on love, deceit, guilt, redemption and forgiveness. The film is narrated in the form of flashbacks from Michael Berg, a successful but withdrawn lawyer from West Berlin, struggling to have an emotional relationship with his lover and even his daughter. The first sequence begins with young Michael Berg (played by David Kloss) falling ill on a tramway and being comforted by Hannah (played by Kate Winslet), a tramway worker. After several months in bed, Michael goes back to Hannah flat with some flowers to thank her. As soon as Hannah hears Michael mentioning reading, her predatory behavior kicks in. Young Michael Berg falls prey to a sexual predator, and society fails to take notice.
The seduction scene is extremely disturbing. While Michael undresses, she assures him that she will not look at him "Don't worry, I won't look!" yet she does so immediately, to check 'how mature' he is, and see if he can fulfill her needs. Once satisfied with her choice of prey, she begins his 'initiation'. David Kloss was only 18 when filming of the love scenes took place, but he towers well over Kate Winslet, which wrongly gives the impression that the relationship is somehow legal. Michael Berg is 15 and Hannah 36, and pedophilia should be added to her long list of misfits. Yes Michael becomes more confident – I did not think I was good at anything – yet, at the same time, we can see Hannah truly turning into his Alpha and Omega.
Many complain about the length of the love scenes, the sheer amount of them and how detailed they are. But only then can you see how important those moments are to Michael, who is totally in love with Hannah. Those moments are nothing else than wild sex for Hannah, who very carefully controls the how and the when. The long lasting damages inflicted to Michael's psyche are carefully depicted. The final blow comes when Hannah mysteriously disappear one day, leaving Michael heartbroken and scarred for life.
The 'affair' lasted the entire summer and no one in Michael's entourage finds out about it: his parents are clueless, his school friends just notice that "Michael always leaves early" and that is it. Once Michael discovers Hannah is gone, he gets back home late and visibly shaken, but no one reacts. His mother serves him dinner and life goes on. Has Michael been failed by his parents? Should they have taken notice of Michael's many transformations during that summer? Or was it more convenient for them to see nothing? Their 'blindness' will define the rest of Michael's life.
In the second part of the movie, Michael Berg is now a 23-years old law student. He is already morphing into a withdrawn individual, interacting with the other student, but not forming any strong bonds with a group or any girl, even though he is very attractive. He enrolls in a seminar focusing on former Nazi camps guards' trial. At the trial opening, he realizes in sheer horror that one of the accused is his former lover.
During Hannah's trial, one of the victims recalls young inmates being selected and nurtured by Hannah and in exchange, they would read to her. Still, despite those attentions, they ultimately all dispatched to the chambers. "Is that any kinder?" asks the witness. The revelation is terrible for Michael, as he realizes that he was not special to her, and that he was the latest addition to her collection of readers. He finds out as well, for the first time, that Hannah is illiterate. He has flashbacks memories of all the hints that should have alerted him to that fact, but he never took notice. Maybe he never cared enough to take notice. He was too young but again, is youth, like illiteracy, an excuse?
Hannah, who is too ashamed to reveal her illiteracy, cannot defends herself properly and takes the full blame for the murder of 300 inmates and ends up with a life sentence. Michael, in possession on the information that could have reduced her sentence, decides to remain silent. Was he ashamed of having fallen for a former ruthless Nazi guard? Did he remain silent to conceal the relationship or did he think that she deserved to get a life sentence for her crime?
In the third and final sequence of the movie, we witness Michael going back to his goal in life: reading for Hannah. He records himself reading the books he read for Hannah decades earlier and sends the tapes to her in jail. Is he seeking redemption for having let Hannah down at her trial? He can't help but love her after all these years so he still wants to do something for her, but he cannot bring himself to be with her, still shaken by the horrors he heard at the trial.
After Hannah hangs herself, Michael travels to NY and meet with one of the victim present at the trial, Mathers. For the first time, Michael finally tells someone about the affair and for the first time as well the viewer can see the despair on Michael's face. "Did she acknowledge the impact she had on your life?" asks Mathers. "She did much worse to other people" answers Michael. This is, in my opinion, Stockholm syndrome at its best.
The movie ends with Michael finally revealing his affair to his daughter. The movie does not explain what he intends to achieve by doing so. He probable does so to seek forgiveness from his daughter for having being a distant father for most of her life. I would suspect this could have the opposite effect on the daughter. I strongly recommend 'The Reader, it is a beautifully made movie, with strong performances from all the actors, especially from Winslet, Kloss and Olin.