Thought Provoking and Poignant

Rating: 7/10 (23 January 2011)

The heart of this film is in the title--"The Reader." If you're looking for a Holocaust picture, this really is not it, but it's mentioned. If you're looking for a period film, NOT THIS, it covers every decade from the 50's to the 90's. It's a movie hard to categorize other than "astonishing depth" for looking deeply into the psychological make-up of several leading characters. The activity of "the reader" at different segments of Hanna's life helps makes this story so intriguing.
It begins with a teenage Michael Berg (David Kross) becoming ill in the alley and an mid-30's, Hanna, helps him home. This chance meeting sparks an affair. Hanna (Kate Winslet, "Titanic") shares her body in trade for Michael reading to her. The affair ends suddenly, but not in the heart and mind of Michael.
The movie travels 5 decades. An early 90's decade scene has older Michael (Ralph Fiennes) planning to meet with his daughter. Michael is obviously troubled, struggling within himself, but why? The movie tell WHY! It tells of multiple relationships with "The Reader." Kate Winslet's performance is the driving force and success to this thought stimulating story. It's why she won the Oscar and many other awards for her role in "The Reader." She stated in the bonus material, "It (this film) doesn't answer any questions." Another great summary line from the screenplay writer (David Hare), "How do you live in the shadow of one of the greatest crimes in human history?" "The Reader" asks questions, but lets the viewer think of possible answers, or why? After watching during an evening, my night was filled with pondering, dreaming, and my own inward struggle dealing with the issues of the film's main characters. This movie does that to you. Not exactly entertaining, but surely and hugely thought provoking. Call it a "sort of" masterpiece.