The Reader - Movie Review and Synopsis

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Category: Movies. Tags: Bruno Ganz, David Kross, Drama, History, Jeanette Hain, Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes, Romance, Stephen Daldry, Thriller, War.

THE READER opens in post-WWII Germany when teenager Michael Berg becomes ill and is helped home by Hanna, a stranger twice his age. Michael recovers from scarlet fever and seeks out Hanna to thank her. The two are quickly drawn into a passionate but secretive affair. Michael discovers that Hanna loves being read to and their physical relationship deepens. Hanna is enthralled as Michael reads to her from “The Odyssey,” “Huck Finn” and “The Lady with the Little Dog.” Despite their intense bond, Hanna mysteriously disappears one day and Michael is left confused and heartbroken. Eight years later, while Michael is a law student observing the Nazi war crime trials, he is stunned to find Hanna back in his life – this time as a defendant in the courtroom. As Hanna’s past is revealed, Michael uncovers a deep secret that will impact both of their lives. THE READER is a story about truth and reconciliation, about how one generation comes to terms with the crimes of another.

Call it the battle of the slimmed-down movie moguls: Superproducer Scott Rudin tussled with studio chief Harvey Weinstein over the release date of director Stephen Daldry’s follow up to The Hours. Rudin and his filmmaker wanted a 2009 berth, but Harvey wasn’t having it, an indication that the former Oscar-winning champ is — dare we say it? — getting back into shape for next February. Right after the drama had subsided (at least in the press), Rudin walked away from the film, and then the reports of HW hassling Reader producer Sydney Pollack on his deathbed surfaced, painting one of the ugliest portraits in recent movie history. I will be happy when the people who actually made and star in this troubled saga begin stumping for the film — especially Kate Winslet, who has a curious bond to this project, and might be competing against herself for her elusive Best-Actress statue next year (her Revolutionary Road arrives on Christmas). Meanwhile, I wonder if Scott Rudin will option his own Reader-era story and turn it into a future Oscar-winning, postwar drama.

Rated R for some scenes of sexuality and nudity.