The Reader is about an illiterate Nazi guard played by Kate Winslet. It’s an intense, sexually driven movie that tackles the complexity of human morality. Sometimes there’s no clear black or white in some situations that are dealt to us by fate.
The Holocaust has been one of the nightmare events in modern history. Hundreds of lives were taken during World War II and people are still aghast as to what kind of human beings allowed it to happen.
The Reader takes place in 1958 when Germany was still recovering from the war. Young Michael (David Kross), a high school boy, met Hanna (Kate Winslet) who is much older than him. An illicit affair ensued, which was strengthened when Michael began reading to her. He was devastated when Hanna disappeared without saying goodbye.
Years later, as a young law student, Michael attends a Nazi trial and discovered that Hanna was being tried as one of the Nazi guards in Auschwitz. She was asked why she did what she did and all she can say was it was part of her job.
Hanna Schmitz (Kate Winslet): It doesn’t matter what I feel. It doesn’t matter what I think. The dead are still dead.
The Reader is not about Hanna the despicable war criminal but it’s about the path she took that led to her part of the Holocaust. Actually she’s not a bad person but she had some wrong choices in her past that haunted her all throughout her life.
Even though Hanna is an evil Nazi guard, the audience would sympathize with her. I know I did. The Reader’s secret formula is its excellent character development and performances from its casts. Kate Winslet proved once again that she’s one of the important actresses of this time.
As the older Michael, Ralph Fiennes brilliantly portrayed a tortured soul when he met Rose Mather (Lena Olin), one of the survivors of the Holocaust. What she said was unforgettable.
Rose Mather (Lena Olin): People ask all the time what I learned in the camps. But the camps weren’t therapy. What do you think these places were? Universities? We didn’t go there to learn. One becomes very clear about these things. What are you asking for? Forgiveness for her? Or do you just want to feel better yourself? My advice, go to the theatre, if you want catharsis. Please. Go to literature. Don’t go to the camps. Nothing comes out of the camps. Nothing.
The Reader is a movie that will strike a chord with the audience. It’s a movie that will stick in your head for a long period of time. If your reason for watching the movie is to see a naked Kate Winslet then you’re watching it for the wrong reasons.
