The Reader |  | Director: Stephen Daldry
Actors: Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes, Matthias Habich, David Kross, Susanne Lothar
Studio: The Weinstein Company
List Price: $14.93
Buy New: $5.45
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Rating:  132 reviews
Sales Rank: 780
Format: Color, Dubbed, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Dubbed)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Region: 1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 123 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: WEID1000397D
UPC: 796019819572
EAN: 0796019819572
ASIN: B001PPLJIQ
Theatrical Release Date: 2008
Release Date: April 14, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Studio: Genius Products Inc Release Date: 04/14/2009
Amazon.com
What is the nature of guilt--and how can the human spirit survive when confronted with deep and horrifying truths? The Reader, a hushed and haunting meditation on these knotty questions, is sorrowful and shocking, yet leavened by a deep love story that is its heart. In postwar Germany, young schoolboy Michael (German actor David Cross) meets and begins a tender romance with the older, mysterious Hanna (Kate Winslet, whose performance is a revelation). The two make love hungrily in Hanna's shabby apartment, yet their true intimacy comes as Michael reads aloud to Hanna in bed, from his school assignments, textbooks, even comic books. Hanna delights in the readings, and Michael delights in Hanna. Years later, the two cross paths again, and Michael (played as an adult by Ralph Fiennes) learns, slowly, horrifyingly, of acts that Hanna may have been involved in during the war. There is a war crimes trial, and the accused at one point asks the panel of prosecutors: "Well, what would you have done?" It is that question--as one German professor says later: "How can the next generation of Germans come to terms with the Holocaust?"--that is both heartbreaking and unanswerable. Winslet plays every shade of gray in her portrayal of Hanna, and Fiennes is riveting as the man who must rewrite history--his own and his country's--as he learns daily, hourly, of deeds that defy categorization, and morality. "No matter how much washing and scrubbing," one character says matter of factly, "some sins don't wash away." The Reader (with nods to similar films like Sophie's Choice and The English Patient dares to present that unnerving premise, without offering an easy solution. --A.T. Hurley
Stills from The Reader (Click for larger image)
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 132
 Explores the many faces of guilt and redemption and the ambiguities of human nature. March 7, 2010
Linda Linguvic (New York City)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I read this book more than ten years ago and will never forget it. But that didn't stop me from loving this 2008 film version which received several Academy Award nominations including a Best Actress award to Kate Winslett. The film explores the many faces of guilt and redemption and doesn't necessarily draw conclusions. It just tells a story and lets the viewer be the judge. And, when it was over there was much to ponder about.
The film is set in Germany and opens in 1958 when Kate Winslet, who is employed as a ticket-taker on a bus, befriends a teenage boy, played by David Kross, who is sick. Their relationship blossoms into a full blown affair in which they take baths together and he reads to her. Suddenly, she leaves him and he is heartbroken. Fast-forward to 1966 when he is a law student observing a trial against six female former Nazi concentration camp guards. He is shocked to see her as a defendant, especially when the other five women accuse her of being in charge. He has information that could help her but he keeps silent. Years pass, and Ralph Fiennes, who is cast as the grown up boy, tries to redeem himself. How this all plays out is the stuff of fine theater.
Subtle questions are raised. What is the nature of guilt? Why do people keep silent? How does this effect a person's life? The film is a allegory for what happened in Germany all those years ago when ordinary people got caught up in what they considered just doing their jobs or keeping silent to protect themselves.
This is a truly fine film. The acting was exceptional and the mood and tone were perfect to explore the ambiguities of human nature. I give it my highest recommendation. Don't miss it.
The Reader February 27, 2010
Arnita D. Brown (USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Middle aged German barrister Michael Berg recollects to himself his lifelong acquaintance with Hanna Schmitz, a relationship with whom he never disclosed to anyone close to him. Michael first met Hanna in 1958, when he was fifteen, she thirty-six. The two had a turbulent summer long love affair, dictated by Hanna that their encounters would begin with him reading to her followed by lovemaking. Michael next encountered Hanna in 1966, when Michael, now a law student, attended the Nazi war crimes trial of six female former S.S. concentration camp guards, one of whom is Hanna. Through listening to the testimony, Michael comes to the realization that he is in possession of information which could save Hanna from a life in prison, information which she herself is unwilling to disclose. In deciding what to do, Michael is torn between his differing views of justice. "The Reader" is a movie that is driven by it's raw performances. Kate Winslet gives the performance of a lifetime. It's a haunting and heart-breaking, and should not be missed.
 weird February 24, 2010
Nick Garcia (Santa Cruz, CA USA)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
this movie came out around the same time as revolutionary road. i compare the two as i saw both in theater closely together it felt. i found the reader to be far less surperior to revolutionary road. kate winslet is a very fantastic actress, but this movie was a poor choice for her in my opinion. she did a great job in the movie, and without her i doubt much would have been made of this movie. the writing has been seen by some as genius... well i think those people have watched and re-watched some lifetime television for women movies far too often. this movie is straight out of a teenage boys dreams, and the "love story" going on here involves a young boy who knows very little if anything about love and is feeling emotional attachment to a woman who gives him sex. there is a feeling of acceptance and perhaps adulthood that comes with that, but love? i doubt it. with kate's character, its weird to watch. it's not exactly sexy, or sweet, or romantic. i dont know what it is it's just weird. usually when there is a love story the audience pulls for something to bring them back together after losing each other. not so much here though.. i had fairly low expectations going into this movie and i was still let down. the reader? nah more like the pedophile........
 DOUBLE STANDARD..SEX W/MINOR February 23, 2010
denzels woman (chi town)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
DOES ANY CARE THAT SHE SLEPT WITH A TEENAGE BOY?? THE MOVIE WAS GOOD, BUT WHAT IF IT WAS REVERSED, AN OLDER MAN WITH A TEENAGE GIRL???
Holocast - the Diet version February 21, 2010
Balaji Rajam (San Jose, CA)
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
There have been numerous movies about the holocaust made until now. Each one of them has taken a different approach for narrating this devastating tragedy. Whether it was the direct approach in "Schindler's List" of painting he horrors explicitly or the subtle approach of "Life is Beautiful", they all conveyed the magnitude of the horror in their own ways.
But "The Reader" is different. Not in a good way. It tends to gloss over the horror in attempt to focus on the people involved. It almost amounts to intellectual dishonesty to do that. For the sake of giving the benefit of the doubt, I put that thought aisde. Even then the movie fails to work.
Clearly Hanna has a huge impact on Michael's life. Maybe to the extent of why his marriage failed. But the director never provides us true insight into that. So the movie fails even on the level of a love/lust story.
The 2.5 stars is mainly because of Kate Winslet's performance. The detachment, the veiled anguish are all portrayed in such a brilliant manner. Lena Olin does a brilliant cameo in probably the most powerful scene in the movie.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 132
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