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The Reader

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The Reader (2008)

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Reviews Counted:179

Fresh:110

Rotten:69

Average Rating:6.3/10

Consensus: Despite Kate Winslet's superb portrayal, The Reader suggests an emotionally distant, Oscar-baiting historical drama.

Australian Rating: TBC

Runtime: 2 hrs 4 mins

Genre: Dramas

Australian Theatrical Release:
Feb 19, 2009 Wide

US Box Office: $34,111,418

Synopsis: Though THE READER may boast the typical pedigree of a Holocaust film--acclaimed actors, a literary source, and an Oscar-baiting end-of-the-year release date--this drama has a significant... Though THE READER may boast the typical pedigree of a Holocaust film--acclaimed actors, a literary source, and an Oscar-baiting end-of-the-year release date--this drama has a significant difference: it focuses on a perpetrator, rather than the victims. Kate Winslet takes on the hefty supporting role of Hanna Schmitz, a woman who has an affair with Michael Berg (German actor David Kross), a 15-year-old boy in 1950s Germany. They spend their brief romance alternately making love and focusing on literature, with Michael reading everything from Chekov to Homer to his lover. Soon, Hanna abruptly disappears, and Michael returns to his normal life. Almost a decade later, Michael is studying law, when he sees Hanna again; she is on trial for her crimes as an S.S. guard during the war. Michael is torn between a desire for justice and his knowledge of a secret that may save Hanna. THE READER makes full use of hindsight and historical perspective. Based on the bestselling novel by Bernhard Schlink, the story is framed by an older Michael (Ralph Fiennes) who deals with both his personal history and the collective past--and guilt--of the German people. This is a complex film that doesn't give the audience any easy answers; Hanna is undoubtedly guilty of horrific crimes, but she is a multilayered character who is always fascinating and always human, thanks to the terrific performance of Winslet, who plays Hanna over four decades. Director Stephen Daldry earned an Oscar nomination for his work on another literary adaptation, THE HOURS, and he deserves more praise for this polished film. [More]

Starring: Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes, David Kross, Anthony Minghella

Starring: Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes, David Kross, Anthony Minghella, Lena Olin, Bruno Ganz, Jeanette Hain, Susanne Lothar, Matthias Habich

Director: Stephen Daldry

Director: Stephen Daldry
Screenwriter: David Hare
Producer: Anthony Minghella, Sydney Pollack, Donna Gigliotti, Redmond Morris
Composer: Nico Muhly
Studio: Weinstein Company

[See More Credits]

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Reviews for The Reader

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
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It is a majestically sombre, always gripping film, told with immense restraint and no hint of sensationalism.

Full Review Source: The Australian | comment Comment
02/27/09
Evan Williams
Evan Williams
The Australian
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Its issues are infinite and moveable. It's a bold and challenging work.

Full Review Source: Time Out Sydney | comment Comment
02/20/09
Dave Calhoun
Dave Calhoun
Time Out Sydney
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The Reader is all about secrets and lies and the possibility that monstrous actions are not a function of something called Evil, but something messier, stranger and more common to all.

Full Review Source: FILMINK (Australia) | comment Comment
02/20/09
Peter Galvin
Peter Galvin
FILMINK (Australia)
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Daldry and Hare replicate adroitly the moral balancing act that makes the book so fascinating...

Full Review Source: Sydney Morning Herald | comment Comment
02/20/09
Sandra Hall
Sandra Hall
Sydney Morning Herald
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The film...hankers after something redemptive. But whatever difficult possibilities about guilt and silence it explores are dissolved into disconcerting blandness.

Full Review Source: The Age (Australia) | comment Comment
02/20/09
Philippa Hawker
Philippa Hawker
The Age (Australia)
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

I was incredibly moved by this film, the way it delves into emotional investment, the power of literature to humanise, the whole ambition to encompass the responsibility of a nation for the evil that occurred.

Full Review Source: At the Movies (Australia) | comment Comment
02/20/09
Margaret Pomeranz
Margaret Pomeranz
At the Movies (Australia)
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

David Hare's sensitive treatment of a challenging, nuanced subject is adroitly directed by Stephen Daldry, full of the textures, subtleties and complexities that make this story so compelling and memorable

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
02/12/09
Andrew L. Urban
Andrew L. Urban
Urban Cinefile
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Law versus morality is at the chilling heart of this potent film whose complex themes begin with a young man's first sexual encounter and traverses uncomfortable territory including that of harrowing war crimes

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
02/12/09
Louise Keller
Louise Keller
Urban Cinefile
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

ovaj film mo%u017Ee nakon obavljene misije oti%u0107i u zaslu%u017Eeni zaborav

Full Review Source: Draxblog Movie Reviews | comment Comment
12/14/09
Dragan Antulov
Dragan Antulov
Draxblog Movie Reviews

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Hollywood.com | comment Comment
09/08/09
Pete Hammond
Pete Hammond
Hollywood.com

Dismal

Full Review Source: CinePassion | comment Comment
08/26/09
Fernando F. Croce
Fernando F. Croce
CinePassion

En el terreno en que la película triunfa sobre todo es en el de la reflexión, que se impone posteriormente al mero recuerdo de la anécdota que narra.

Full Review Source: Uruguay Total | comment Comment
07/09/09
Enrique Buchichio
Enrique Buchichio
Uruguay Total

I have no doubt that the novel makes this movie seem but a glissando of a complex series of emotional notes, but I can say that I was torn up every which way by the end of it.

Full Review Source: Cinerina | comment Comment
05/31/09
Karina Montgomery
Karina Montgomery
Cinerina
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
04/23/09
Peter Keough
Peter Keough
Boston Phoenix
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | comment Comment
04/08/09
Minneapolis Star Tribune

Winslet creates a flawed and fascinating villain.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
03/24/09
Rob Gonsalves
Rob Gonsalves
eFilmCritic.com

An intriguing journey: love story without love, war story without war, and ultimately a meditation upon our inability to normalise an understanding of what life would have been like for those living in Nazi Germany.

Full Review Source: Screenwize | comment Comment
03/21/09
Simon Weaving
Simon Weaving
Screenwize

This movie invites you to unlock the mystery. Would you be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to protect a secret?

Full Review Source: Entertainment Spectrum | comment Comment
03/21/09
Keith Cohen
Keith Cohen
Entertainment Spectrum
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: JoBlo's Movie Emporium | comment Comment
02/27/09
Chris Bumbray
Chris Bumbray
JoBlo's Movie Emporium

...it is a movie of incredible moral obtuseness.

Full Review Source: The Jewish Advocate | comment 8 Comments
02/22/09
Daniel M. Kimmel
Daniel M. Kimmel
The Jewish Advocate
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
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Latest News for The Reader

April 13, 2009: RT on DVD: Frank Miller Talks The Spirit, Michel Gondry Releases New Music Video DVD
It's a light week for home video entertainment, but never fear -- RT on DVD is here! We'll kick things off with the biggest title of the week: Frank Miller's The Spirit, which... More...

February 24, 2009: Backstage at the Oscars: My First Time
In the movie world there is no event greater, no red carpet glitzier, no awards show more meaningful, than that of the Academy Awards. While millions watch the biggest night... More...

February 17, 2009: RT Interview: Reading The Reader with Stephen Daldry
In bringing the best-selling German novel The Reader to the big screen, director Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliot, The Hours) had more than a few hurdles to overcome -- breaks in... More...

February 13, 2009: Debating the Merits of The Reader
When you read the list of Best Picture nominations for this year's Academy Awards and saw "The Reader" nestled in between "Slumdog Millionare" and "Milk," were you surprised?... More...

See All

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