Review: The Reader

2009 May 6

Title: The Reader
Starring: Ralph Fiennes, David Cross, Kate Winslet
Directed by: Stephen Daldry
Written by:David Hare and Bernard Schnik

5.5 out of 10

I waited for 10 days before I got a chance to watch this movie. I started to watch it having decided that I may not be able to watch it fully in one sitting. I watched in 3 sittings being interrupted by my 3 year old Daughter a couple of times

I was under the impression this was a violent movie and had some blood in it. It was not. The story is set in various time periods mostly in Germany. We start with the current time which is mid nineties and see the character of Michael Berg played by Ralph Feinnes. As Michael reminisces on his life we see his past unfold in front of eyes. We are taking back to early 1950s when Germany had come out of the fascist Nazi rule. We see a torrid love affair develop between Michael who is then a 15 year old boy and a middle aged woman Hannah Schmitz played by Kate Winslet. The atmosphere is very well set to take us back to those days. But what follows does not seem to add up to a compellingly told story. The whole movie during this part seems to be about Michael's affair with Hannah and adds little value to the development of the story. The scenes are plain raw and does not have much subtle characterization except for when Michael and Hannah go on a picnic. We see Hannah break down during a Church coir which has shades of meaning associated with it.

Amidst scenes of Michael growing up and getting a law degree we see flashbacks to different time periods. Much to the credit of the director the non linear narration seems to gel smoothly with the story. Ralph Fiennes has given a studied performance. The big disappointment came from Kate Winslet for her role as Hannah Schmitz. She does not have much to work with, in her role. Her performance pales in comparison with those of Angelina Jolie in Changeling and Sally Hawkins - the heroine in Happy go Lucky, as well as Mellisa Leo the heroine in Frozen River. As an aside I wonder how they get around the fact that the leading character is a minor and has been asked to act in mature scenes.


Still this did not interest me beyond the curiousity about Kate Winslet's performance which received the Oscar for the best female lead in acting.

The music is haunting. Nice photography. Good acting and a good story. But I did not find it strong enough.

So I give this movie 5.5 out of 10