The Reader

A captivating and unique film charged with intimacy, which does not explicitly show off and therefore does not disrupt the smoothness and flow of the story. Ralph Fiennes was maybe born for such roles, and Kate Winslet is in a surprising role that I could never have imagined her in before. I have some quibbles about artificially heightened moments due to the routine piano, but otherwise I’m satisfied overall. After a long time, an intelligent film with a serious theme, executed in a way that you won't get bored, and that is appreciated. Daldry is not completely useless after all. (15/05/2010)

An incredibly strong and emotional film that doesn't just use the Second World War to be emotional, but brings forth a beautiful and sad story that stands on its own. Yes, the war is of course important here, but the story would hold up even in slightly different circumstances. A stellar performance by the main cast and director Daldry. (15/09/2014)

A nice drama with a leisurely start and a very intense second half and ending. Kate Winslet has outdone herself with a performance that is clearly Oscar worthy. I also appreciate that the film doesn’t pass any categorical judgement, leaving the viewers free to impart their own absolution. The topics The Reader deals with are so strong and deep that, thanks to the above mentioned liberty, they will stay in your head for a lot longer than five minutes after the screening. I also want to praise the music, it’s not obtrusive but still striking enough for me to notice it (which is far from the rule for me). (26/01/2009)

It is, of course, excellent that attention has been drawn to the subject of the Frankfurt Auschwitz trials from 1963 to 1965. Kate Winslet is an interesting choice for the lead role, and although we know she can act, she is after all too familiar to us for such complex characters. It would be interesting to see a good German actress in this role. Bernhard Schlink wrote a book that aroused many emotions, questions, and discussions. The many themes that run through it like a red thread seemingly fit together only with difficulty. But the opposite is true. Very controversial are the parts depicting interviews with law students of the 1960s and the final meeting with a former victim. Personally, I find the whole tone of the novel's fiction extremely problematic, but that's not Schlink's fault, it's the problem of the general phenomenon of denazification. The course of history cannot be changed by punishing the weakest link. Note that it is impossible to deal with the Holocaust in this way. (12/01/2020)

The part that takes place in the fifties is proof that pedophile soft porn and a story don’t go well together. The voyage through the sixties raises hopes that it would turn to some burning questions regarding collective guilt, the need to find a scape goat and to hypocritical verdicts for “the nation’s peace of mind". But no more than two or three sentences are uttered about that. And the final twenty years are good, but nothing more than just good. It’s a crying shame that the Germans didn’t adapt the book themselves. At a time when German cinema is experiencing a historic boom, when they settle up accounts with one historical skeleton in the closet after another, it would fit beautifully into their clutch of movies. They certainly have the actors for it (in fact apart from Kate and Ralph everybody’s German here). Plus it would be in German which would significantly add to the authenticity. And the English with a would-be German accent is torture to the ears. (24/04/2009)