Love, Literature and the Holocaust

Rating: 8/10 (13 April 2009)

Using post-war Germany as its settings, The Reader is a fascinating exploration of guilt, responsibility, love, shame, the power of the past and the loss of innocence; it's a very complete portrait of Mankind, with its darkness and light, its love and cruelty.
Fifteen-year old Michael Berg (David Kross) meets Hanna Schmitz. A relationship develops. For Michael it's entering the world of sex; but for Hanna it's the birth of something more special. For the time they spend together, Michael is obliged to read aloud to her. During a summer they live a strange relationship of sex and literature. Then she moves away without notice.
Year later, Michael, a law student, travels with his teacher and colleague to witness a trial in which six female concentration camp guards are being judged. Hanna Schmitz is one of them. This is only the beginning for Michael of discovery which will change the way he saw the innocent days when he read to Hanna.
I've come to expect nothing short of technical and visual excellency from the collaborations of director Stephen Daldry and screenwriter Richard Hare. Billy Elliot and The Hours were two amazing dramas in which human relationships were at the center of the action, and The Reader is no different. Kate Winslet pours everything she has into the secretive, weary-looking Hanna. It's a great performance (but not my favorite) by this generation's greatest actress.
Ralph Fiennes unpredictably also gives a great performance, standing in as the older Michael Berg, whose reminiscences are the bulk of the story. He's a man obsessed with the past, unlike Hannah, for whom "the dead are still dead." David Kross is also good. He portrays a fairly innocent kid who slowly discovers the cruelty and unfairness of the adult world. He sacrifices everything for the afternoons with Hanna: friends, family. His feeling of betrayal is quite visible in the courtroom scenes.
It's also worth mentioning the joint cinematography of masters Roger Deakins and Chris Menges. It's pretty easy to spot which scene was shot by whom, so different are their styles. But even their differences work for the movie's benefit, with Deakin's bright colors in the outdoor scenes contrasting with Menges' dark interiors.
The Reader was one of the best movies of 2008 and well worth watching.