Stephen Daldry directed The Reader which is based on the novel Der Vorleser (1995) by German lawyer and writer Bernhard Schlink. And while he is confused about his feelings for Hanna through much of the film, he doesn't give up on her. He inhabits all her three worlds-their affair, the court trial, and her last days. Kate Winslet is outstanding as the elderly grey-haired Hanna Schmitz, probably in the role of her lifetime-she won an Oscar for best performance-while Ralph Fiennes is dapper and dignified as Michael Berg, the single father of a teenage girl. I’ll use two words to describe the parts of The Reader I watched and read about-touching and heartbreaking. Then comes the day when Hanna is to be released and the jail warden calls up Michael because he is her only contact and relation in the outside world. Michael records each classic in his own voice and soon Hanna comes to cherish and listen to the cassettes in her grey cell. Finally, the fully grown Michael Berg (Ralph Fiennes) revives his relationship with the ageing Hanna by sending her audio cassettes of classic literature, especially Homer’s The Odyssey, which he used to read out to her during their affair. Then, some years later, the law student is shocked to see her in court where she is standing trial for Nazi war crimes and is sentenced to life in prison. In the first period, a young Michael Berg has a short but passionate affair with Hanna Schmitz (Kate Winslet), an uneducated German woman old enough to be his mother. This film is set over three different periods after WWII. The Reader is one such movie I saw by accident last week, and I'm glad I did. I have got into the habit of watching the last half-hour of a film on cable and then reading all about it on the internet.
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