Reviewed by Michael Edwards
Stars Kate Winslet, David Kross, Ralph Fiennes, Jeanette Hain, Susanne Lothar, Alissa Wilms,
Florian Bartholomäi, Friederike Becht, Matthias Habich
Written by Bernhard Schlink, David Hare
Certification UK 15 | US R
Runtime 123 minutes
Directed by Stephen Daldry
One of those priceless arthouse films, The Reader addresses some hugely important and deeply moving issues in a way that is neither arrogantly prescriptive in its moral conclusions nor overly bombastic in its artistic expression. This makes the film accessible and thought-provoking in a way that is absolutely essential for a film about the Holocaust.
The basic plot is that schoolboy Michael Berg falls ill one day and is helped by a passing stranger twice his age, Hanna Schmitz. When he has recovered he goes back to see her and falls in love, they begin an affair that is shown with sufficient critical detachment to avoid either Lolita-esque romantic excess or judgmental moralising. However one day Hanna just disappears, leaving Michael heartbroken. It is only when he attends a trial of SS officers as a trainee lawyer that he sees her again, as the defendant. Travelling back and forth between this period of his life, and the 1990s when he is a middle-aged lawyer, we see him suffer the guilt and confusion as he tries to come to terms with her crimes, and then lay the past to rest as he finally contacts elderly Hanna in prison.
The power of this films comes in its the subtle strength of the plot, which emphasizes the real critical moments in Michael's personal crisis. By avoiding melodramatic plot points and exaggerated situations his feelings are allowed to represent the broader issues faced by an entire nation dealing with the crimes of its past. He becomes a tortured everyman who can not seek redemption, nor can he seek to forget. He is stuck in a world which forces him to come to terms with the brutal events of the past.
Much of the weight of the films message lies on the skill of its cast, and Kate Winslet in particular has been praised for her portrayal of Hanna. Personally I thought Ralph Fiennes stood out from the pack as the middle-aged Michael, displaying remarkable restraint and subtlety when dealing with what could have easily been blown out of proportion as a grand finale. Newcomer David Kross also excelled as young Michael, giving a strong sense that he was an ordinary, if slightly more intelligent than average, boy living through some exceptional events.
It is sad that in making itself accessible and recruiting the cast it wanted The Reader had to resort to abandoning the German language of its predecessor novel, and I can't help but think this has done some damage to the feel of the story. Nonetheless it remains that this is a poignant insight into the aftermath of the Holocaust that provides a welcome new take on its events in context.