The Reader

The Reader

This movie will stay with me for a long time. What is doesn't have is heroes. What is does have is questions, the kind we ask ourselves every day. The puzzle we must always solve involves how much of ourselves to reveal. What parts of our inner workings, feelings, and past do we allow out in the open in order to maintain order and integrity. What is integrity, anyway?
The story takes place in WWII Germany, a place and time that was a puzzle for most people living through it. It involves a boy's sexual awakening with an older woman, and the feelings that emerge between them. It is sensual, and beautiful.
A key scene is an ordinary family dinner for the boy, Michael, after his first sexual experience. He has a secret! He looks around at his family as they eat in silence, tickled at the memory of what he has just done, and the wonder that they don't know. It is a great scene which will evoke memories in just about everyone. We each imagine what he is thinking. Maybe: "Here I am eating an ordinary dinner just like every day, and only an hour ago I was naked with a woman." Or: "I am a sexual being and they don't know." Or: "My parents - they have done this, too. It is a secret we have in common." He watches them eat, and keeps it to himself. It is the start of a life of secrets. Later, he keeps it from his friends. Eventually, he keeps it from a court of law, even though he knows a secret about his lover, Hanna, which would change her future for the better.
The story is well told, and every new development in Michaels life begs the question: "How much do I really want other people to know about me?"
David Kross is spellbinding as the young Michael Berg, played with painful reserve as an adult by Ralph Fiennes. Kate Winslet plays Hanna Schmitz throughout her life with a harshness of expression that belies her fear, ignorance, and sensuality. These three performances are incredible and real and Lena Olin and Bruno Ganz add depth to the story and the questions that arise from it.
I'm thinking about it so much I might just have to go see it again!

The Reader, presented by the Weinstein Company, stars Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes. Directed by Stephen Daldry. Screenplay by David Hare.