The Reader

Of all the movies I have seen lately, I thought The Reader, based on a German book by Bernard Schlink and directed by Stephen Daldry, was the best.  I had been resisting seeing it so I was completely surprised by how much I liked it.  The Reader tells to story of a relationship that begins in 1958 when Michael Berg (first played by David Kross and then by Ralph Fiennes) is only 15 and Hanna Schmitz (Kate Winslet in a stunning performance) is 36.  She helps him when he becomes sick with scarlet fever, and months later they become lovers.  She loves him to read to her and he does so, saying it is the first time he has ever felt that he is good at anything.  The story moves to 8 years later, when as a law student, Michael witnesses Hanna’s trial for war crimes when she was a young guard in a concentration camp during the Holocaust.  The film moves back and forth from the adult Michael’s perspective to the younger Michael and Hanna’s story, and then into what happens to both of them as they go through their lives.  Their relationship is completely believable.  The acting, directing, editing, cinematography, and pacing are all excellent.  The story is compelling and understated–the focus is on Michael and Hanna’s relationship even as it touches on aspects of the Holocaust and the struggle of German people about their feelings in the decades after the war.  It felt very complex, stirring feelings without throwing anything in the audience’s face.  I highly recommend this movie.