The Reader

Welcome to another episode of The "D" List

I know you all missed me so I figured I would get right back at it. Before I get started I want to tell you my new scoring system for rating these films. I will now go off a 5 star rating followed by my recommendation which can fall into the following categories.

"Save the loot"
"Netflix it"
"Give it a shot"
"Go see it"
And finally
"Worth every penny"

Today's review will be The Reader directed by Stephen Daldry. The script was written by David Hare. It's an adaptation of Bernhard Schlink's book "Der Vorleser."

This film has been nominated for 5 Academy Awards.

Best Cinematography
Best Adapted Screenplay - David Hare
Best Director - Stephen Daldry
Best Actress - Kate Winslet
Best Picture

As I was watching this movie 1 question continued to pop in my head. Why was this movie nominated for best picture? It starts off at a snail pace and seemed very mundane. However, about midway through, the film takes a turn that immediately changed my viewpoint.

The film begins in 1995 Germany. We see an old Michael Berg played by Ralph Fiennes staring out his apartment window as a train passes by. From that moment we flash back to a teenage Michael on a trolley car. He gets off the trolley and staggers to an alley where he vomits then collapses.

At that moment Hanna Schmitz played by Kate Winslet arrives. She sees Michael in his condition and tends to him. She cleans him up and takes him home. It turns out that Michael has scarlet fever and ends up bedridden for a couple of months. After he's recovered, Michael goes back to Hanna's apartment to thank her for her help and so begins their torrid summer love affair.

The film continues to establish the physical and emotional bond between Hanna and Michael through several montages. Including a scenario where Hanna informs Michael that before they are intimate he must read to her from the many books that he's studying in school. As the year they spend together progresses, Michael begins to socialize with girls from school but they do very little to sway his mind and heart from Hanna.

Meanwhile, Hanna receives a promotion at her job from a trolley usher to an office position. It's then when Hanna encourages Michael to face the reality that their relationship is not going to last and that it's time for him to move on. Michael reluctantly does so but he can't let her go. He goes to see her only to find that she has mysteriously disappeared.

Several years pass and Michael is now a law student. He participates in a seminar taught by a jewish lawyer who was a concentration camp survivor. The group attends a trial where several women are accused of letting 300 Jewish women die in a burning church when they were SS guards on the Death marches following the 1944 evacuation of Auschwitz concentration camp. To Michael's surprise, Hanna is one of the defendants.

The key evidence is the testimony of a young Jewish woman who has written a memoir about how she and her mother survived. When Hanna testifies, unlike her fellow defendants, she admits that she was aware Auschwitz was an extermination camp and that the ten women she chose each month were subsequently gassed. She denies authorship of a report on the barn fire, despite pressure from the other defendants, but then suddenly admits it.

It's at that moment, Michael realizes that Hanna has been hiding a deep secret the entire time they were together. I will not say what it is but I'm sure you can put 2 and 2 together. It's here where the film really generates it's momentum and closes out in fine fashion.

The performances were top notch. From Fiennes to David Kross (young Michael) to finally Winslet. In my opinion her performance mirrors the flow of the film. At first I was doubting what made her so special, just as I was doubting the film as well. But then as the film began to pick up steam so did Winslet. Her character's turn while she was in prison was very emotional and had a lot of heart behind it.

Does this make her a lock for Best Actress? I would say that she's got the best chance but who knows? The Academy is notorious for screwing up their own awards.

Overall The Reader is a well made, well written film that deserves the accolades it's receiving. My only bone to pick was how the movie was marketed. The trailer was very deceptive and painted a very different picture of what The Reader really was.

I understand that a well cut trailer is designed to spark enough interest to get butts in the seats. But if you have to resort to bait and switch tactics then you not only fail to trust your property you do something much worse. You insult the intelligence of the movie going public.

On the 5 star scale, The Reader gets 3.5 stars and a "Go see it" recommendation.

By my count that's 3 of the 5 Best Picture nominated films down and 2 to go. Slumdog Millionaire and Milk are on the horizon.

Until Next Episode....I'll save you a seat.