The Reader

The CB's caught The Reader yesterday afternoon in their quest to see all the Oscar-buzz movies that have recently been released. Although we give it an average grade, it's worth seeing for Kate Winslet's nuanced performance that begins with her character, Hannah, as a mysterious thirty+ year old with a very healthy libido who initiates a 15 year old boy to the pleasures of sex. At the same time, she witholds any real intimacy and clearly has a past she does not share with her young lover (an excellent performance by newcomer David Kross). It's hard to tell which she enjoys more--making love to Michael or listening to him read to her. The movie shifts back and forth in time between the summer of their initial affair, a period eight years later when Michael is in law school and discovers the secrets Hannah has kept from him, and scenes depicting an adult Michael (Ralph Fiennes) who still struggles with the effects of his past relationship with Hannah. At each point in the arc of her character, Winslet captures both the toughness of her character and her complete vulnerability.

Ultimately, though, the movie leaves too many questions unanswered to be satisfying. Fiennes' role as the adult Michael is underdeveloped and pales in comparison to the richness of the younger Michael's role. When Fiennes assumes the role of Michael, we missed the younger Michael, and we were left wondering why he was still so damaged as an adult because of this relationship. The shifts in time were were sometimes confusing as well, and caused me to misinterpret a whole section of the film (luckily, Ann set me straight!). Although the mystery surrounding Hannah drew us in, the movie left us wanting more insight into what her full story was and who she was before she met Michael. We also felt that the focus on their sexual relationship and the emphasis on the theme of literacy overshadowed any real exploration of the question of personal retribution for actions taken (or not taken) during the autrocities of the Nazi regime. This movie has flaws, but, again, it is worth seeing if only for the performances of Kate Winslet and the young David Kross.