BOTTOM
LINE:
Ultimately flat, and
uncomfortably melding a touching love story with the seriousness
of a Nazi war crime trial, “The Reader” may have been
Oscar-worthy due to its ideas on paper but it does not resonate
with the thematic gravity that it should, largely due to its dry
and uninteresting execution.
THE
GOOD: Much of what
works in “The Reader” is its attempt to cover so much
thematic ground. As a whole, the film speaks to dealing with the
consequences of your actions, whether they be for love, life or
for your fellow human being. Ralph Fiennes plays Michael Berg, a
German lawyer who recalls the short love affair he had in his youth
with Hanna Schmitz (Kate Winslet). The affair had a profound impact
on his personal life and subsequent relationships to the point where
he never forgot about her, even after the heart break of when she
suddenly disappeared from his life. Years later, as a law student,
Berg comes across her again, but this time he witnesses her on trial
for Nazi war crimes when she worked as an SS Prison Guard in a concentration
camp. Schmitz allows herself to be setup and imprisoned for life
by the other defendants, rather than admit to her illiteracy, a
fact which would have worked heavily in her favour as the evidence
convicting her was a written prison report. Berg knows this but
does not come forward. Berg never really moves on with his life,
and eventually starts sending her audio tapes of himself reading
books to her as he used to do in his youth. Schmitz begins to see
the positivity of the situation in prison, but when Berg eventually
goes to meet her, the reunion is not as warm as she hoped. Before
she is released, Schmitz hangs herself, leaving Berg to contemplate
the meaning of everything that has transpired. The film has the
potential for strong emotional and thematic resonance, least of
which being the stellar cast in Fiennes, Winslet and David Kross
(who plays the young Berg). There is a sense in the film that life
does not have easy answers; it is not easy to do the right thing
because it requires an enormous amount of courage and/or sacrifice.
In this respect, “The Reader” has some noble intentions
and some cerebral engagement.
