The film is highly atmospheric and it took me back to the late 1950s. The long gowns well-coiffed ladies, and the trams which are all classically 1950s. Young Michael Berg was portrayed by young David Kross (that lucky boy) and I saw a very different Kate Winslet. I had not seen her films since “Titanic” and was captivated by this elder and mature Winslet as Hanna Schmitz. Her intense gaze, her stone-hard expression, and her German accent were all that I had in mind for Hana Schmitz but far more gorgeous.
I read the book last year and the movie helped me fill out all the plot gaps so much that it gave me the impression that the film adaptation was made to ease the story’s flow and make the emotional bond between Michael and Hanna sharper and more intense than the novel. The movie accomplished that to some extent for me, looking back at the book review, it felt like there
Although the movie is serious, it has a few funny moments that are not included in the book). It gives us a glimpse into various famous literary pieces (which I’m not sure the novel did, I could be incorrect. Young Michael read Homer’s Odyssey, Anton Chekhov’s A Lady With the Little Dog, and The Lady’s Chatterley Lover to Hana during the bathtub scenes, where she later scolds young Michael by asking where he got the book and how disgraceful it is for him to read such a filthy novel. Young Michael also reads Tintin comics, which are my favorite of all time.
The movie incorporates a few new ideas and scenes which enhanced the character development a bit. Michael’s college years are given a bit more importance than the book and help highlight the significant impact of Hanna’s influence on Michael from adolescence to college, and then through his adult years. The introduction of the law professor serves to help the audience understand the separation of law from ethics, and that murder must be associated with an intention.
Having a daughter in Michael’s life also shows how the secret had damaged his life. Yet, I found the last part where Michael meets the daughter of the survivor in New York not only unnecessary, but painful to watch as Ralph Fiennes got cold-shouldered by the woman whom Hanna had chosen to leave some money to.
The part of Hanna is the boldest and most daring choice Kate Winslet has made so far in her career, which indeed made her rise artistically to greater heights. It is a grotesque idea to me for an older woman to have sexual intercourse with a teenager, which this movie has full frontal nude scenes, but in the end, I was so convinced that those two (Hana and Michael) had something special as a couple after seeing how comfortable together Kate Winslet and David Kross were.
Like the book, I was emotionally touched by Michael’s unrelenting recording, and Hana’s attempts to read and write at the end of the film. Contrary to other critics, I think that Hana deserves sympathy. So, towards the end of our lives we all learn how to repent and forgive those who have trespassed and in turn, we end up exercising a bountiful capacity to forgive. It’s one of the most thought-provoking movies and novels I have ever watched and read during my lifetime. I found the novel to be excellently written while the movie was magnificently made. I think it’s time to step outside and purchase another copy of The Reader so that I can reread it again.
In my opinion, Winslet transformed into the character and earned a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress, BAFTA Award for Best Actress, Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress, and Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the film. In addition to being nominated for other significant awards, the film also received an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture.
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