Caffeinated Clint
By Ashley Hillard
Kate Winslet is so phenomenal in “The Reader”, you almost don’t notice her breasts are exposed during most of her screen time. Almost. This dramatic story about a May / December romance between Hanna Schmitz (Winslet) and Michael Berg (David Kross / Ralph Fiennes) unfolds in post World War II Germany, beginning with Michael returning home from boarding school ill with scarlet fever. Schmitz takes him in and cares for him before he returns to his family. Months later, he comes by her place to thank her and watches as she changes, igniting a passion between the two that will last for decades.
The Weinsteins needed this film to re-establish themselves as the creative forces they once were while running Miramax. Though “The Reader” probably won’t draw in large enough audiences to make huge financial waves at The Weinstein Company, it has garnered the critical acclaim this production company has longed for. This is thanks in equal parts to Winslet’s performance, a strong script by David Hare (“The Hours”) based on the book by Bernhard Schlink, and fantastic direction from Stephen Daldry (“The Hours”). The film’s composer, Nico Muhly, mentored by renowned composer Philip Glass (“Notes on a Scandal”) and hand picked by Scott Rudin to compose “The Reader”‘s score, adds to the power of what is unspoken between the two leads, which carries this film all the way to the Oscars.
As the story unfolds, it becomes apparent that Hanna is illiterate and uneducated. Her bond with Michael grows as she teaches him about life and sexuality and he reads to her the stories she longs to be able to read for herself, but she is too ashamed to admit her secret. As their relationship intensifies, Hanna is offered a promotion which would require her to work in an office. She flees, not wanting to face her inability to read and write. Michael is left wondering where she went and is scarred by the experience.
Eight years later, while in law school, he encounters Hanna when she is put on trial for Nazi war crimes. It is an interesting twist on a familiar story. Instead of wanting to condemn a Nazi for her actions the audience is made to feel sorry for her as she is humanized and shown as simple, rather than evil. She was doing a job and almost seems unaware of the consequences of her actions. After Hanna takes the fall for the other women on trial, not wanting the court to know about her illiteracy, Michael is tempted to help her but chooses instead to do nothing.
The two meet again years later, when Hanna is to be released from prison. Michael (at this point played by Fiennes) is her only connection to the outside world. The two meet one last time and the scene is powerful, Daldry is masterful in drawing out performances that show so much with so little being said. Fiennes is a bit stiff and doesn’t attempt a German accent, his performance is too close to the one he gave in “The Duchess”, but it is still a solid performance and his scenes with Winslet are electric.
May Winslet add an Oscar to her mantle next to the two well deserved Golden Globes. This film is worth hunting around online for a theater that is showing it. Hopefully The Weinsteins will continue giving us more of this caliber of film and less “Scary Movie” sequels.
