The Reader

It was difficult to find a movie poster online that could be copied on our hard drive, so the book cover plus a film still will have to do. Today's day off cinematic experience? The Reader.

The trailer:


The film begins in 1995, then flashes back to youth in 1958. Young 15-year-old Michael falls into a steamy summer affair with 36-year-old Hanna, and as usual with things hot and flammable, it burns itself out quickly. An interesting twist, Hanna is enamored with Michael's schoolwork and yearns to be read to. So, with each tryst, Michael reads to Hanna from classics of all sorts. By summer's end Hanna is gone, and Michael is left to ponder his novel sexual deflowering for the remainder of his days.

Bump up to 1966, and Michael is in law school in an advanced seminar class. The professor brings the troupe to Berlin to witness a trial of historic proportions. Six women are on trial for being SS guards in World War II and the eventual murder of 300 Jews. Michael's interest is piqued when he hears the name of one of the defendants: Hanna Schmitz.

The gentle lover who longed to be read to was at one time a monster.

This is just not another WWII Nazi film per se. This is a film of innermost secrets. As a young 23-year-old law student, Michael holds a secret that could possibly acquit Hanna of her awful charges. Does he come forward, bringing his own name into an unsettling light? Or does he keep quiet, knowing his silence could sentence his one-time lover to the abyss? The knowledge he holds suddenly makes a lot of sense with his relationship with Hanna. What to do?...

As time goes by, it is 1977 and divorced Michael has lived a life of relative introversion and shyness. The weight of his guilt and shame is a tremendous burden. Upon moving, he organizes his books. Constant daily thinking of the woman who took his virginity becomes too much, and the reader takes up his books once again to send tape recordings of the classics to Hanna in prison. This is his only correspondence with the former Nazi. Until....

Classic German guilt? Self loathing? Maybe. But the underlying point is how many times do humans just follow along and go with the flow; to NOT do what's right because that would cause a ripple in the routine? Hanna could have done the right thing. Michael could have done the right thing.

What would you do?....

A healthy Matinee score here...even with all the soft core porn for the first 45 minutes or so.