THE
READER
With
Kate
Winslet,
Ralph
Fiennes,
David
Kross,
Lena
Olin,
Bruno
Ganz,
Susanne
Lothar,
Alissa
Wilms,
Florian
Bartholomäi,
Friederike
Becht,
Matthias
Habich,
Jürgen
Tarrach,
Volker
Bruch
Written
by David
Hare
(based
on the
book
by Bernhard
Schlink)
Directed
by Stephen
Daldry
While
I'd
like
to call
this
film
“bitter-sweet”,
far
more
of the
term's
former
part
is present
than
the
latter.
The
viewer
is taken
to post-WWII
Germany
in flashbacks
taking
up most
of the
film's
screen-time.
A teenager
has
a chance
meeting
with
a tram
conductor
when
he falls
ill.
After
returning
to thank
her
for
her
help,
they
soon
get
entwined
in an
affair.
Part
of this
secret
relationship
also
involves
him
bringing
a range
of books
along
and
reading
it to
her.
Their
meetings
become
the
focus
of his
every
day,
but
this
whirlwind
experience
comes
to an
abrupt
end.
He encounters
her
again
many
years
later
while
he's
studying
law
at university,
but
in a
very
different
situation,
not
only
catapulting
the
story
into
even
more
emotional
territory
but
also
a moral
dichotomy
and
fortitude.
This
is far
more
involved
than
a mere
coming-of-age
tale
of infatuation
and
love,
as it
touches
on war
atrocities,
literacy,
pride
and
ignorance.
A heavy
movie
indeed,
which
earned
Kate
Winslet
her
first
Oscar
win.
5
/ C
- Paul
Blom
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- B
- C
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