Challenging and Provocative

Rating: 9/10 (13 June 2010)

Ask any number of people to describe an event, and they will all do so slightly differently. This is because each of our experiences and our own personal psychologies influences how we perceive the world. This being the case, then how can justice be truly blind?
Michael Berg (David Kross) becomes ill one day, but is helped by a passing woman. Later on, he tracks down the woman, Hanna Schmitz (Kate Winslet) and they engage in a passionate affair. After falling in love, Hanna suddenly disappears, leaving Michael stunned and heartbroken. They encounter each other again years later, when Hanna is on trial for murders during the Holocaust (Michael is a law student observing the trial).
The film touches on many themes, including command responsibility, the theory versus the actuality of justice, what constitutes morality and others. These are challenging topics, all the more potent when they involve the something as dark and horrible as the Holocaust. It is a credit to the filmmakers that not only are all of these themes and ideas presented intelligently and in ways that stir our minds, but they never make the film exploitative.
Kate Winslet is easily one of the most exciting and versatile actresses alive today. She finally won a long overdue Oscar for her performance as Hanna, and she is wonderful. Aloof but naiive, Hanna is a fascinating individual and is brilliantly realized by Winslet (I have one minor quibble...when she is shown in old age, Winslet doesn't adjust her voice, but that's hardly worth mentioning). As Michael, David Kross matches her beat for beat. He's also stand-offish, but he's fallen helplessly in love with Hanna, which changes his life forever, and leads to an extraordinarily complex moral quagmire. Ralph Fiennes has a small role as the Older Michael, but we can see the similarities of a man whose picking up the pieces of a traumatic life.
The film is superbly constructed by Stephen Daldry The film hits the correct note every time, however the film's ending is a little too oblique. Nevertheless, this is a rewarding and extremely involving film.