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"The Reader" is a 2008 film directed by Stephen Daldry that explores a complex relationship between a young man and a woman with a hidden past during and after World War II. The film examines themes of guilt, complicity, and moral responsibility in relation to the Holocaust and Nazi Germany.
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Film · TMDB
7.5The 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.
Cast
- Ralph Fiennes as Michael Berg
- Kate Winslet as Hanna Schmitz
- David Kross as Young Michael Berg
- Lena Olin as Rose Mather
- Bruno Ganz as Professor Rohl
- Jeanette Hain as Brigitte
Themes
- based on novel or book
- germany
- war crimes
- world war ii
- women's prison
- trial
- female prisoner
- reading aloud
- love affair
- cynical
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Ratings
IMDb
7.6/10
271,485 votes
Rotten Tomatoes
63%
Metacritic
58/100
- Year
- 2008
- Runtime
- 124 min
- Genres
- Drama, Mystery, Romance
- Rated
- R
- Awards
- Won 1 Oscar. 26 wins & 48 nominations total
via OMDb · IMDb
Wikidata facts
- Duration
- 124
- FilmAffinity ID
- 331584
- Official website
- www.thereader-movie.com
Show 4 more facts
- title
- The Reader
- publication date
- 2009-02-26
- review score
- 63%
- Commons category
- The Reader (2008 film)
Sources (15)
via Wikidata · CC0
~17 min read
Article
The Reader is a 2008 romantic drama film directed by Stephen Daldry, scripted by David Hare, adapting the 1995 German novel Der Vorleser by Bernhard Schlink, and starring Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes, David Kross, Bruno Ganz, and Karoline Herfurth. The film tells the story of Michael Berg, a Berlin lawyer who, as a 15-year-old in 1958, has a brief summer love affair with an older woman, Hanna Schmitz. She abruptly leaves, only to resurface years later as one of the defendants in a war crimes trial stemming from her actions as a guard at a Nazi concentration camp. Michael realizes that Hanna is keeping a personal secret she believes is worse than her Nazi past — a secret which, if revealed, could help her at the trial.
The Reader was the last film for producers Anthony Minghella and Sydney Pollack, both of whom died prior to its release. Production began in September 2007, and the film opened in limited release on 10 December, 2008. It received average to favourable reviews from critics, with praise for Winslet and Kross's performances, but with some faults in its screenplay and direction. For her performance, Winslet won the Academy Award and BAFTA Award for Best Actress, as well as the Golden Globe and SAG Award for Best Supporting Actress.