Rewarding nudity

Rating: Null/10 (21 December 2008)

"But look where sadly the poor wretch comes reading." Gertrude, Hamlet
Kristin Scott Thomas in I Have Loved You So Long has competition from Kate Winslet in The Reader for best actress of the year 2008. The Reader has competition from Boy in the Striped Pajamas and Defiance for the best Holocaust film of 2008.
The real winners in this sample of high-profile film competition are those of us who love good movies. The message is also that similar themes abound this year as filmmakers are in concert about the issues most important to a populace reacting uncharacteristically in a recession and war year by preferring more serious films at a time when escapism would have been though to be the operative guide.
Set throughout the major decades of the twentieth century, The Reader tells of 15-year old Michael Berg (David Kross) having a three-month affair with the older Hanna Schmitz (Kate Winslet) and viewing his life as an attorney who meets up with her again. Although the older woman-younger man motif works well when it moves apace, most often it lingers like long takes from the adolescent idyll, Twilight. The difference is, of course, rewarding nudity and physical and emotional connection not given to that vampire lightweight.
When Reader gets to the trial, it picks up considerably from its languid pace although never reaching the potential of drama and insight such a setup should offer the playwright, David Hare. Bruno Ganz as the law professor is a welcome part of the denouement.
It's Winslet's movie throughout, and she retains a stoic innocence consistent with her character. Ralph Fiennes as the older Michael never impresses me because, with the exception of his brutal turn in Schindler's List, Fiennes frequently plays variations of the most soulful-eyed depressive on the planet. He's very good at the role. As the title implies, reading is a motif that ties the major sections and characters together nicely. It is as good as you will see about the romantic aura of literature from Homer to Rilke and many writers in between.
"Call me a fool; Trust not my reading nor my observations . . . . Friar Francis, Much Ado About Nothing."