Movie Review: "The Reader" (2008)

Warning: The following content may contain spoilers!

How far would you go to protect a secret?

Rated R for some scenes of
sexuality/nudity.

   This weekend I decided to delve into Kate Winslet's more perfected roles as former Auschwitz guard Hanna Schmitz, who holds a secret she believes is more shameful than murder. Out of Kate's six Oscar nominations, this one led her to win the Academy Award for Best Actress in 2008. Let's set the scene:

   Post-war Germany, 1958. The movie starts with fifteen-year-old Michael Berg on his way home from school when he becomes sick with scarlet fever, and a woman (Hanna) helps him home. What becomes of the pair after he is better? Despite the beautiful R rating, I'm going to keep this PG-13, thank you very much.

   Anyway, the two start a passionate love affair. There. I said it. Anyway, whenever Michael visits Hanna, he reads to her, hence the title. He comes to love her so much, in fact, he even sells his worshiped stamp collection just so they could spend a couple days together riding bikes in the countryside. (Remember, he has school and Hanna has work.) One day, Hanna gets a job promotion--and when Michael turns sixteen, she disappears without a trace, leaving Michael confuse and heartbroken.

Hanna and Michael take the day off with a peaceful bike ride.

   Skip forward to 1966. Michael's in law school when he has to attend a trial for his class. To his surprise and horror, Hanna is one of the defendants in the case. She's accused of sending women to their deaths in Auschwitz as a guard, along with six other women. Though she's completely honest, the other women use that to their advantage and point her out as the ringleader of a certain event that involved a burning church and the lives of three hundred women; and in a torturous five seconds, she admits that she was, even though she wasn't, thus receiving a life sentence. Why did she let herself get locked up in jail--for decades? You see, my fellow readers, that is the mystery. Delve into it, feel the power and emotion; I'm not telling you, so get over it.

   It just so happens, though, that heart-torn Michael had an epiphany, something that could have saved Hanna from her loneliness. But because he never shared it in court--take this as a lesson, children--the rest of the movie is about him trying to deal with his growing plate of guilt. He doesn't visit Hanna in jail, even after she tries to re-establish contact with him. The only thing he does is sit back and read a book.

The Reader by Bernhard Schlink.

   Oh, you thought I just meant read a book? Well, yes, he read it. But he also recorded it--and sent the tapes to Hanna. I guess, in a bitter way, he'll always be her reader.

   My review in one word: Tears. This is a heart-wrenching film of (in another word) guilt, guilt, guilt. As Hanna Schmitz, I could see how Kate Winslet won her first Oscar (though she's always been amazing and inspirational). Also starring Ralph Fiennes (also known as, in one word for the third time, Voldemort) and David Kross (who didn't know any English before making the film), the cast was very well-picked...and German. Did I mention that? How awesome would it be to be crowded by German people? Just awesome, I say.

   All in all, I was very pleased with it. Absolutely phenomenal, and a movie to remember for its many life lessons and historical outlook of Germany.

    *However*: the movie lives up to its R rating--as in, it is NOT for anyone under the age of eighteen. (Fine, a mature sixteen-year-old at the youngest.) 

   My Recommendation: **** 4/5 Stars for The Reader (2008), starring Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes. IMDb Rating: 7.6/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0976051/

Watch the Trailer!