The Reader

CinemaSerf

June 6, 2022

7/10

David Kross is really effective in this tale of a young boy ("Michael") who encounters "Hanna" (Kate Winslet) as he shelters in her doorway from a rainstorm. In fairly short order, this fifteen year old boy becomes her lover; in return she gets him to read to her. He is soon infatuated and devastated when he turns up at her apartment one day to find her gone. Skip on thirty years or so and he - now Ralph Fiennes - takes over a retrospective of her story as we discover she was tried for being a p…

I didn't turn this movie off after the beautiful sex scenes only because two others were watching it with me. The mere fact that "Germans" were speaking English totally destroyed the whole "suspend disbelief" for me. This film is an awful rendition by Brits of an award-winning German book. Perhaps, only someone from the Nachgeborenen (to coin Bertolt Brecht's meaning of German post-Holocaust generations) should have made this film. The two stars are for Winslet and Kross. The rest sucks.

The Reader blends a controversial romance with post-war German guilt, presenting a layered, emotional story carried by powerful performances and thoughtful direction. Despite some logical gaps, the film succeeds in portraying personal and societal struggles through its characters' trauma and secrets. It’s a compelling watch for those drawn to slow-burning dramas with moral complexity. Read the full review here: (Indonesian version : alunauwie.com) and (English version : uwiepuspita.com)