Good Interpretation of the Book.

Rating: 8/10 (18 December 2009)

And that must have been a challenge, as a narrator, who weaves the story, must have a different rendering on screen.
The story is compelling, and takes place in the aftermath of the Holocaust. Stephen Daldry brings his fine directing skills to this complex story of human morality and frailty and its far reaching effects. Bernhard Schlink's best-selling German novel, "The Reader," is the source and he had input into this screen treatment.
David Kross, a newcomer, gives a wonderful performance as Michael when he gets involved with Hanna, played by Kate Winslet, after falling ill on the street. She offers him assistance. Their illicit affair blossoms when he gets well and goes to thank her for her help.
Part of their connection is Michael's reading to her from an assortment of books that he brings.
My only problem with this screen interpretation is the gratuitous sex between an underage male (legally a child) and his older lover (Hanna is in her mid thirties). There is far too much sex shown and not enough reading. I believe if this had been an older man shown with a fifteen year old girl there would have been more of a protest. Here their scenes are graphic and bordering on prurient.
The awakening of Hanna takes place with the reading of these books and not so much the sexuality so I feel the emphasis was incorrect. Be that as it may, Michael is heartbroken when Hanna disappears. Years later, while he studies law, he goes to a trial and finds that an older Hanna is being tried for war crimes.
This was a complex book and is a complex film which gives no simple answers. We cannot judge Hanna for there is a Hanna within all of us. Her empty lonely life was enriched with her exposure to literature for the first time. We understand her. We don't condone what she did as a guard but we can sympathize.
Ralph Fiennes plays the grown-up Michael but with far less nuance than David Kross. I found it more than a little jolting when he appeared on screen. Ralph does pained very well indeed but his performance lacked spectrum and the emotional depth that Kross had.
8 out of 10. Winslet and Kross were superb.