The Holocaust in a Different Light

Rating: 10/10 (15 March 2010)

I was deeply touched by the film's primary message, that, although there were countless evil leaders within the Nazi regime, there were also those misfortunates, like this illiterate woman, who were victims, certainly by their own choice, but more for reasons that point to their own survival.
Having no education, however, does not make one unable to feel, as witnessed by this woman's love for literature and for a 16 year old boy, no matter what some might think about her contributing to the delinquency of a minor. After all, how many of us today got our start willingly in our teens? Being illiterate can, and in this case, did, create for Hanna Schmitz (Kate Winslet) limited options for employment. And so she went for whatever door opened to her, not knowing where it would lead.
I keep asking myself why Hanna didn't admit to her illiteracy when prompted to show a sample of her handwriting by her prosecutors? Was it embarrassment, or was she willing to be a scapegoat in order to keep the other women guards from a possible death sentence? Was illiteracy, in that day, on the same scale as an unpardonable sin? I saw in "The Reader" that one can love another as God loves us, without reservation, no matter our iniquities. Love forgives, and covers a multitude of sins.
In this film, however, only the very select reaped what she'd sown.