The film, The Reader, finally made it to our local multiplex and we went to see it Friday.
It is an excellent film, and I have no idea why the distribution for this film has sucked so badly.
Although the plot might sound somewhat dreary, it is anything but! It is very erotic in parts, the story has some nice twists, and even though the main character - Hanna - has a horrible secret from her past, not everything is black and white.
Kate Winslet deserves an Oscar for this role. She is brilliant and nails every nuance of her character.
I think Slumdog Millionaire will win Best Film, but I think The Reader is a close second as far as best film of the year!
Did I miss another thread about this? I’m surprised if this is the only one.
I saw it just tonight and was quite impressed. I missed a few seconds at the beginning and thus took some time to realize that the young man was in fact Ralph Fiennes’s character in the '50s rather than some other young man in a very archaic 1995 Germany, but things made a lot more sense when I understood that.
I found it fascinating. It does not try to soften what happened, what was done. It does not try to soften who she was or explain why. It isn’t for that. By the end, we may pity her but we do not forgive her, yet she is still a sympathetic character while remaining… well. Exactly what she was.
I think the writing was excellent and would be interested in the book on which it was based.