The Reader

In the beginning of the film the story leans toward more to an unusual love story between a 15 year old boy Michael (David Kross) and a mature woman Hanna (Kate Winstlet) during the summer of post war Germany. It all started when Hanna seduces the boy on one of his visits tio her apartment. Their dalliances repeated everytime they see other. This is coupled by readings of a book by Michael to Hanna as somehow a foreplay with their intimate encounters. The illicit affair lasted only during the summer. Then the film turns to unexpected dark tone on the latter part. This is due for the fact that after long years, when Michael becomes a law student, they cross paths again during a Nazi trial involving Hanna accused of the deaths of hundred jews.

At first I thought The reader is another holocaust movie that Hollywood keep churning out lately. But it is not... It refreshingly sheds some light with a different perspective in regards to the dark part of the history during the Nazi era. Rather the film is about guilt and redemption. A personal guilt and guilt for the atrocities made bythose involved during the war. In connection to this are the complexities of human nature's action that is sometimes hard to comprehend and explain without ways for a solution. Watching this film should be viewed with an open mind to fully grasp what is really lurking behind the minds of these people. The tormented characters of Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes and David Kross are so intensely played with much gusto. A good film indeed.

rating: ***