The Reader
The Reader
R | 10 December 2008 (USA)
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The story of Michael Berg, a German lawyer who, as a teenager in the late 1950s, had an affair with an older woman, Hanna, who then disappeared only to resurface years later as one of the defendants in a war crimes trial stemming from her actions as a concentration camp guard late in the war. He alone realizes that Hanna is illiterate and may be concealing that fact at the expense of her freedom.

Reviews
Interesteg

What makes it different from others?

ReaderKenka

Let's be realistic.

FuzzyTagz

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

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Alistair Olson

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

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M Campbell

There are already many excellent reviews covering the thought-provoking story of "The Reader". I decided to write a quick review because the story was important and, for the most part, well-written and well-acted. But, in my humble opinion, to make this a truly great movie, and the material deserves more attention, this film needed another pass through an editor's hands to remove the extraneous sex scenes. The subject matter is serious but I found myself wondering if the costume budget had been drastically cut given how many scenes are shown of naked people. I only needed one sex scene to set the stage for the passionate affair between Michael and Hannah. The repetitious sex scenes became gratuitous and boring. Not one of them was original but instead were reminiscent of those that had gone before in "Summer of '42", "The Graduate", and many others. A good 20 minutes in sex scenes alone could've been cut and the movie would've been better for it. As it was they became an unwelcome distraction from the actual point of the film. And that's a shame because once we get beyond them the movie really takes off. Until then, however, my inclination to stop watching was great. I'm glad I didn't, but I did want to warn others. It gets better. A little fast-forwarding may be in order.

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sergelamarche

Kate is so damn fabulous every time. This story uses the nazi germans as element of guilt in a sexual love story between a woman and a boy. This is the dream of many boys but frowned upon in these me too days. And Weinstein cie is involved! In any case, sensual, moral, thoughtful are the words for the film.

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merelyaninnuendo

The ReaderThe innocence and the selfless act behind it is the key and the makers were aware of it and narrows it down to it and brings out the best from the book gaining passion, attention and love from the viewers. Stephen Daldry despite of possessing such a beautiful script fails to project it on screen convincingly which makes the audience switch seats on picking a side, for the writing and adaptation is equally powerful on the other side. As these features require, the performance is not compromised on any level by Kate Winslet; she is brilliant, and also Ralph Fiennes from the supporting cast. The Reader has a powerful yet beautiful concept as we all are aware, but also the adaptation and the editing which provides enough space and range to the characters and the actors to flaunt themselves but what's indigestible is the execution and it doesn't pay well in the end.

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irynavasko

No words to describe. Truly masterpiece. Very deep and profound movie.

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