Classic. Yes, in my opinion The Reader has all the qualities of a great dramatic film. The story is moving and shocking. The actors are very intense. The characters in this story have very complicated personalities which must have been very challenging to effect on-screen. I commend all the people behind The Reader for having done excellent work.
The story which was set on a Post World War II Germany, centers on a boy named Michael Berg. Michael was like any other fifteen- year old during his time until the day he sought to thank a woman named Hannah Schmitz. Through a whirlwind of events and stirred emotions, Michael quickly became involved in a passionate love-affair with the mysterious Hannah, a woman almost twice his age. The affair itself didn't last long but what Michael discovers about Hannah, years after she disappeared, will alter both of their lives.
How could someone whom you've spent so little time with affect your whole life so greatly? This was the thought I had pondering on the film. I see however, that it is not how much time Michael have spent with Hannah that have made such an impact but the time itself when they had their affair. Michael was fifteen. He was at that point when he was still beginning to understand himself and make adjustments, in other words, he was still forming an identity. He was very vulnerable and to be thrust into such a mature affair was bound to overwhelm him. Could his perception of Hannah be somehow likened to a tainted version of hero-worship? Never mind that he may have been in love, what mattered were his tendencies to fall under dominance of a stronger personality. Looking back a few years, I find that I have then perceived some older, more mature people to be more than who they probably are. I still do. Even now that I maybe of their age then, I could not see myself in the position I have perceived of them. I guess for most of us, that's true.
There is such a thing as banking your emotions towards a certain person, even when you don't know them enough. For Michael, it has been such a hurtful shock to learn the truth about Hannah's past life. I think because he has retained a relatively nice image of her in his head and then feeling like a naive fool, he's got to confront the reality of who she is. However, he cannot get himself past the effect she had on him. The image and emotions attached to her is too strong, born out of his perception of her as a young lad who believes he is in love. Hannah's emotional appeal to Michael would cause him to be burdened by her secret and her bitter condition.
What about Hannah? She is a very complicated character, yes. She's not the evil person the court accused her to be. She was a guilty woman, yes, but she was also a victim. I don't find it very clear what she thought of Michael but surely, he must have been her only source of comfort for her many years in prison.
Well, I will say it again: It's a great film; and yes, I believe Kate Winslet deserved her Oscar.
Also, I was impressed by the acting of David Kross as young Michael. I'm not familiar with him since his relatively new but i think he got those emotions right to us movie-goers especially during the trial. Ralph Fiennes, played the adult Michael and he was very moving as well.
My Rating: Very Good
Watch it, not with children though, adult content
I think its one of those stories which lingers on you long after its over.
The Reader is based on a German novel by Bernhard Schlink.
