As one of the most popular films from 2008 to 2009, The Reader absolutely deserves my high attention. I watched it and felt it was very meaningful. No, I didn’t say it’s exciting, although it does have some exciting scenes. The meaning of this movie is leads us to think some history events more rationally. This is why I want to discuss it here today.
The Reader is a 2008 drama film based on the 1995 German novel of the same name by Bernhard Schlink. The film adaptation was written by David Hare and directed by Stephen Daldry. Ralph Fiennes and Kate Winslet star along with the young actor David Kross. It was the last film for producers Anthony Minghella and Sydney Pollack, both of whom died before it was released. Production began in Germany in September 2007, and the film opened in limited release on 10 December 2008.
It tells the story of Michael Berg, a German lawyer who as a teenager in the late 1950s had an affair with an older woman, Hanna Schmitz, who then disappeared only to resurface years later as one of the defendants in a war crimes trial stemming from her actions as a concentration camp guard late in the war. Michael realizes that Hanna is keeping a personal secret she believes is worse than her Nazi past, a secret that — paradoxically enough — could help her at the trial.
Winslet and David Kross, who plays the young Michael, have received much praise for their performances. Winslet received praise and won a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress, BAFTA Award for Best Actress, Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress and the Academy Award for Best Actress at the 81st Academy Awards for her role in the film. The film has also been nominated for several other major awards.
This is a very attractive story, and it is controversial. How should we treat such history tragedy? This is a very serious question. The author tried to find an answer for us, but I don’t believe all of us will agree. So the meaning of this movie is to guide us to think, it’s not providing us an answer.
The New York Times reviewed: “The Reader is a scrupulously tasteful — more on that word tasteful later — film about an erotic affair that turns to love. It is also, more obliquely, about the Holocaust and the generation of Germans who came of age after that catastrophe. This, at any rate, is what the film would have us believe it’s about, though mostly it involves Kate Winslet, her taut belly and limbs gleaming under the caressing light, deflowering a very surprised-looking teenage boy who grows up to become a depressed-looking Ralph Fiennes.”
Now let’s take a look at what other people said about this film:
This is not a movie you forget. The moral difficulty is of knowing her before you know her past and before you understand why she made her decisions.
An engrossing experience until about the last third – then the slow moving film slows to a crawl with tedious, unnecessary “back story” business and too much concentration on…
It’s often very difficult to create a movie worthy of a great novel, but I believe this movie does its source material proud.
The Reader (2008) Movie Review
As one of the most popular films from 2008 to 2009, The Reader absolutely deserves my high attention. I watched it and felt it was very meaningful. No, I didn’t say it’s exciting, although it does have some exciting scenes. The meaning of this movie is leads us to think some history events more rationally. This is why I want to discuss it here today.
According to Wikipedia:
This is a very attractive story, and it is controversial. How should we treat such history tragedy? This is a very serious question. The author tried to find an answer for us, but I don’t believe all of us will agree. So the meaning of this movie is to guide us to think, it’s not providing us an answer.
The New York Times reviewed: “The Reader is a scrupulously tasteful — more on that word tasteful later — film about an erotic affair that turns to love. It is also, more obliquely, about the Holocaust and the generation of Germans who came of age after that catastrophe. This, at any rate, is what the film would have us believe it’s about, though mostly it involves Kate Winslet, her taut belly and limbs gleaming under the caressing light, deflowering a very surprised-looking teenage boy who grows up to become a depressed-looking Ralph Fiennes.”
I totally agree with such opinion.
Main Cast:
Ralph Fiennes
David Kross
Kate Winslet
Now let’s take a look at what other people said about this film:
(From: Amazon)
So what do you think about The Reader? Have you watched it? If not, shame on you! You should watch it right now!