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Rating: 7/10 (24 January 2009)

Based on the novel by German writer Bernhard Schlink, The Reader (Der Vorleser) tells a story about a passionate affair between a 15-yr-old student and a 36-yr-old woman in the 1950s, post WWII Germany. Hanna Schmitz is the mysterious lady working as a tram conductor who loves to be read to by young Michael Berg during their trysts. Their affair lasted a summer and as intense as it started, Hanna left just as suddenly without a word. The next time Michael saw Hanna is 8 years later, in a courtroom where she is the defendant of a war crime trial and it is then where he finally finds out her secret she has fiercely guarded her whole life.
The director, of 2 Oscar-nominated films: Billy Elliott & The Hours, Stephen Daldry has once again highlighted the complexity of the main characters in this film. Revolving around Golden Globe winner Kate Winslet's portrayal of Hanna Schmitz, Kate's ability to create an image of a stout German lady is pretty impressive, packaged together with a German-accented English and she also bares all, both literally and creatively, in this film. David Kross, the newcomer as the young Michael Berg, is the true-blue German who in turn had to learn English to be able to act in this film and Ralph Fiennes does a fine job portraying the older & perpetually-troubled Michael, who couldn't forget the past that had created such a great impact to the rest of his life.
The Reader's premise surrounds the moments when Michael reads to Hanna every time they meet, mainly from works of German literature like The Odyssey, The Lady & The Little Dog and even The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. It lightens up the pace a little bit with a touch of humour and also when it links significantly towards the ending of the film. The trip to the concentration camp is poignant and hits home the cold reality of the effects of the Holocaust; the people who worked in it, and the people who died in it. In this film, we get to view it from the point-of-view of the people who worked in it. To them, it's just work in which they have to be responsible in their assigned duties and if it involves selecting a group of people to be sent to the gas chambers, they will do it with diligence. The question posed to everybody else is: 'So what would YOU have done?'
Containing flashbacks of the past and present, the film is intermix with Michael's memories of the affair in 1958, his law student times 8 years later & to his present life in 1995. Unfortunately, the pacing of the film is slow and the plot's main twist was revealed too early on in the film and so it killed the whole build-up to Hanna's 'secret'. Also this being a German story by a German writer based in Germany but shot in English with English actress (Kate Winslet) & actor (Ralph Fiennes) somehow just doesn't seem convincing enough. As compared to the book itself, the inner struggles of Michael especially during the trials are not shown in its full strength to prove his guilt of betrayal to Hanna.
Overall, watch this film for the effects of post-WWII on the people left behind, to appreciate the changing years and landscape of Germany and most of all to experience award-worthy Kate Winslet, David Kross & Ralph Fiennes acting skills.