Can you explain why the sexuality was so important to feature in telling the story?

SD: Because it's an essential element of the story. It wasn't something that was "featured," it's something that's integral to the story that Bernhard Schlink wrote. And as I say, if anything, I thought I was rather chaste, with the lovemaking scenes.

Lena Olin has a line at the end of The Reader about the camp experience not being therapeutic; would you say that the film overall isn't meant to be digested as a Holocaust film, per se?

SD: I certainly hope it isn't digested as a Holocaust film. And as she says at the end to Michael Berg, if you want catharsis, you should go to the theater. Go to literature. Don't go to the camps, because nothing comes out of the camps. I think what that character is --- she's been left this money, by this guard. And then this German man turns up, who seems to have some sort of relationship with this woman, who doesn't really know why he's there, but only that he's been given this quest, by this dead woman. And I think that her challenge to him --- what are you doing here, what do you want from me, what am I meant to take from this --- rejecting the money, and rejecting any hope of redemption for her, but actually challenging him for his understanding of this meeting, and what does he want out of it. In the end, bouncing the task back to him, saying, whether you do it or not in Hanna's name is really your responsibility. It's got nothing to do with me. And the idea that you would ask or question me, as a survivor, what you should do, is absurd. This is your problem.

And, by extension, the problem of the German people and subsequent generations. Considering that this is a specifically German story -- though a worldwide bestseller and Oprah book club pick --- how do you expect non-German audiences to react?

SD: I think one of the reasons Mr. Schlink wanted it made in the English language, though it is a very particular German story, was to see whether any of the themes in that story could resonate outside of the country. To see if it wasn't just a German story, if those echoes could resonate in other cultures.

Do you think that Hanna really loves Michael, as he asks her at one point in the movie?

SD: Yes, I think she does. As much as she understands the concept of the word "love." If you asked her, as in the movie, what she says is yes --- what she understands that to mean is questionable, of course.

Do you see any sort of through line in your body of work, either in theater or in film?

SD: No. No, I don't. I hope there isn't any! Who wants to be known for "something?" It's great to keep exploring, keep redefining.

I was shocked to hear that you were editing The Reader and working on Billy Elliott the Musical at the same time, which sounds like a task for someone with multiple personalities.

SD: No, you have to be Superman! I am, in fact, Superman. [Laughs] Every morning I wake up and go into a telephone booth and change my costume, and then go to work.

Find reviews, trailers and more for The Reader here.