The Reader
Directed by Stephen Daldry
125 minutes, 2008
I enjoyed and appreciated every second of this movie. From the depth of stories to its acting, music, cinematography, whatever the elements in a movie, The Reader has all of it to a certain level.
A 15-year old young boy felt ill on the way home from school, a woman in 30’s helped him. A few weeks later, the boy was recovered, brought flowers to thank her for the help. The woman showed her interest towards the boy who couldn’t resist the beauty of her at his blooming age, which began the transition to a man from a teenage. The story begins.
They started and continued this routine making love after his school at her apartment. Without knowing her background, Michael was content just being with Hanna, learning about a woman physically and psychologically. For the foreplay, Michael read classic books to Hanna, in bed or bath tub. They enjoyed each other’s nudity and company, more heavily the love from Michael as Hanna always called him “kid”. It was wild passionate sex or affair whichever we call it so, without any other consideration. I enjoyed their passion and the beauty of both bodies visually, artistically, shared the purity of their lustful moments.
This affair lasted for a month or two, Hanna, as the more mature one vanished for her own reason. The boy had to move on by carrying the confidence that Hanna had given him, along with the invisible emotion impact and shame on his later life. Michael became a law student.
Until now, we could put this love story in any time frames. However this particular one was happened in later 1950’s, more than a decade after WWII.
I like WWII movies for its rich stories; structures of the backgrounds and the uncontrollable situations for ordinary citizens, both German and Jewish and its twisted love, along with the compelling scores and acting. To name a few, my favorites would be “Gloomy Sunday”, “The Pianist”, and many more. When most of the WWII movies are telling stories during the War, The Reader is a postwar story which brings up a new issue of the conflicts, gaps and misunderstandings between later generation and the German who lived in Nazi period. It seeks the definitions of right and wrong from different perspectives. Answers could be varies depending on generations and their backgrounds.
The next encounter for the lovers was 8 years later at a courtroom. Michael as a promising law student attended a hearing which was surprisingly a case of Hanna with intention of a murder of 300 Jews during a fire at a camp. Katie Winslet delivered such a strong character who believes with no doubt that she did absolutely a right thing in that circumstance as a German guard. However it was her “illiteracy” which caused her life in prison. Michael, on the other hand was suffering from trying to understand her lover’s intention to helping her with hesitates and dilemma. He converted his passion to reading and taping cassettes for her, one book after another, but avoided to see and help her anymore.
Katie Winslet’s phenomena performance was flawless, she is getting stronger and more mature to this point from the epic Titanic eleven years ago. Here I want to emphasis the young Michael’s actor, David Kross, a young German actor. For his third movie, but first leading actor in this film, he shows us the rawness, freshness, a young innocent boy with an uncertainty of the difference between love and sexuality which I adore so much.
In the first part of the movie, we see an innocent happy boy who just starts obsessed by a beautiful older woman. His passion is above all regardless the huge gap of age difference. However as his maturity develops, he starts to understand gradually the reality of the history against his dealt with the woman he adored. At the courtroom scene, tear drops filled in this young law student’s eyes which were staring at his former lover, wandering from the sureness of right and wrong, showing us his struggling with the conflict between his emotion and justice. He got completely lost as an avid intelligent law student who carries a full load of sentiment in his heart. David did such an awesome job which almost made me forget this was a movie that I was watching.
The adult Michael was played by Ralph Fiennes, who was in The End of the Affair I was impressed by. His handsome figures, lonesome image was perfect for this role. The film starts with his flashback after one night stand with a lady in 1990’s. He shows emotionless after what he has experienced.
Close to the end part of this movie, Michael brought a tea tin with Hanna’s wish, came to an enormous upscale apartment in New York City, visiting a daughter of a Jewish woman who survived from the fire at the camp. This scene was well done by both actors. Even though they were sitting in the same room, just a few feet apart, speaking the same language, however with the past baggage, their understandings and emotional delivery were so far apart. Both the daughter and Michael, who represents Hanna, expressed their emotions from totally different perspectives. My heart feels twisted and deeply sorry for each character as the conversation was going on.
After decades being quite about his affair ashamedly, Michael finally takes a step forward, bringing his daughter to Hanna’s gravy, telling her the stories about his past.
