The movie begins on one rainy day. A young Michael Berg (David Kross) is walking in the rain and is weakened by a worsening scarlet fever. He gets a helping hand from a lady called Hanna (Kate Winslett), who offers to guide him back to his home. When Michael gets better and is able to leave his house again, he wants to go to her and thank for her kindness. Hanna lets him in her tiny apartment and in her lonely life. It doesn't take long for them to find themselves being passionate lovers. There is quite an age difference and the affair keeps secret, but there is still something unforgettable about all the moments these two share together.
Hanna also seems to have some peculiar habits. She loves to be read and Michael sure enjoys reading to her, every single time that they meet. He doesn't ask any questions, but just keeps on reading. No matter how passionate they seem to be, there is always room for a new chapter, a new book and a new story.Until one day, when Hanna mysteriously disappears, leaving Michael heartbroken.
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Years go by and Michael is a law student observing trials in court halls. One day when going to the court there is a Nazi war trial, where several S.S. guards are defendants and believed to have sent children and women to their deaths in Nazi camps. When at the courtroom he suddenly realizes that Hanna is one of the accused S. S. guards. He is stunned to see her again in these kind of circumstances. There is also a tiny secret, just a little detail Hanna won't reveal in the court, but which Michael knows about and is torn between helping her or just letting it go.
Time goes by and Hanna is now in prison. She is serving a life time sentence for her actions during the war. Michael (Ralph Fiennes) on the other hand has a family, but eventually gets divorced and when going through his old things, he finds all the books he used to read to Hanna and decides to record those books into tapes and send them to her. He sends them year after year, until finally Hanna starts to use these tapes to teach herself how to read.
In the end Michael is the only contact Hanna has in her life outside the prison and when it's time for her release, he is the one to take care of her and her new life, being a free woman. But things don't always go the way they're supposed to as is the case in this one too.
The end of the film was quite slow paced and even a bit boring I would say, but overall this was an interesting story of two strangers that meet, fall in love, have true passion, drift apart and then meet again in the strangest circumstances.
Kate Winslett's role as Hanna was very strong, believable and real. Like Kate herself is. There is just something about this woman that makes her so alive and real on the screen. She is perhaps one of the most down to earth actresses that I know of and maybe that's one of the reasons she outshines the others. And remember, Kate is nominated for an Oscar for her role as Hanna.
But this film is not only about love and the little affair, nor about Kate or her skills, even though she is nominated for Oscar for her role in this film. But we need to remember that this is also a story about war and about all the horrible memories of the Holocaust, the dark side in German history. It was very moving and confusing to see young Michael walking in the old prison camp, all those empty halls and those empty gas chambers. You could almost sense the presence of all those poor people that were walking their last steps to their deaths, closing one chapter in German History.
Directed by Stephen Daldry
Written by David Hare (screenplay) and Bernhard Schlink (book)
Cast Kate Winslett, Ralph Fiennes, David Kross
IMDb http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0976051/
6 comments:
Voi että minä odotan tätä elokuvaa!
Kerron kyllä sitten kun olen sen nähnyt.
Minulla sama juttu, vielä en ole nähnyt mutta innolla odotan :)
Sooloilija, tämä on erittäin mielenkiintoinen ja jollain tapaa koskettava elokuva. Käsittelee mielestäni myös hienostuneesti arkaa aihetta, juutalaisvihaa ja Katen osa on tässä elokuvassa unohtumaton, vaikka mielestäni hänen olisi pitänyt olla Oscar-ehdokkaana myös roolistaan Revolutionary Roadissa.
Päivi, samat sanat kuin edesllä ja sinäkin varmasti pidät tästä, on hienosti toteutettu elokuva ja roolijaot ovat menneet kohdilleen ;-)
No nyt minä olen nähnyt tämän elokuvan! Siitä on juttu blogissani sunnuntaina Naisten päivänä 8.3. iltapäivällä..
Otin elokuvan hyvin tunteella vastaan. Hiljaa se eteni, oli hienostunut ja hienovireinen..
Mielestäni tämä nuori mies, saksalainen näyttelijä David Kross oli aivan uskomaton! Hän on syntynyt vuonna -90! Hän oli niin luonteva aikuisen Katen rinnalla!
En puhu nyt enempää. Lisää tunnelmiani jutussani.
Tärkeä ja merkittävä elokuva. Mutta uskon, että se jää kuitenkin moniltä näkemättäkin. Niinkuin aikoinaan jäi Brokeback Mountainkin. Monet miehethän eivät kerta kaikkiaan voineet mennä sitä katsomaan. Tämänkin aihe on lähes yhtä arka..
The Reader is a great movie that's really get you through time and history. i specially loved kate winslet that is still the best actress around for years (and years to come)!
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