Friday, January 2, 2009

'The Reader' Review


Kate Winslett and David Kross in The Reader. Watch the trailer: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/the-reader/30943/main

Ralph Fiennes plays the hero of the story, grown up into a discontented lawyer

It's been a nice time off during the holidays. Today was the fourth movie we've seen. The Reader is based on a German novel and my wife bought the translation after the movie when we went to Borders. She wants the original so she can read both together to practice her German. I bought another Criterion DVD, Olivier's Richard III with good extras but that's for a future entry.
The Reader unfolds in flashbacks as Ralph Fiennes reflects on about when as a German teenaged boy (David Kross) he had a summer affair with an older woman (Kate Winslett) in 1958. Besides losing his virginity and having lots of sex, he spends time reading books to her, hence the title that has a double meaning, one good and the other bad but you need to see the movie to learn this. They separate but he can never forget her. Years later as a law student, he attends a Nazi war criminal trial and finds her as a defendant. He holds back a crucial bit of information that could change the verdict. Later he tries to make amends with her and others who were involved with her crimes. Can the mistakes of the past be corrected is what drives the story through the years. Atonement could be another title for this movie but that's been taken.
This movie has high production values and the acting is very good. Winslett again proves she is one of our best actresses as she ages throughout the story and Fiennes is as good as ever. Each gesture and eye movement of his speaks volumes. Two actors in peak form including the underrated and underused Lena Olin in two small parts as mother and daughter Holocaust survivors.

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