Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Excellent, a Must See

Don't listen to the negative reviews

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

The ReaderThe innocence and the selfless act behind it is the key and the makers were aware of it and narrows it down to it and brings out the best from the book gaining passion, attention and love from the viewers. Stephen Daldry despite of possessing such a beautiful script fails to project it on screen convincingly which makes the audience switch seats on picking a side, for the writing and adaptation is equally powerful on the other side. As these features require, the performance is not compromised on any level by Kate Winslet; she is brilliant, and also Ralph Fiennes from the supporting cast. The Reader has a powerful yet beautiful concept as we all are aware, but also the adaptation and the editing which provides enough space and range to the characters and the actors to flaunt themselves but what's indigestible is the execution and it doesn't pay well in the end.

Wow, I don't know what to make of this picture. It's so good as a fictional story that it feels like it could be a true one. It presents many moral dilemmas, not the least of which is it's treatment of Hanna Schmitz (Kate Winslet) as almost a sympathetic character when in reality she was something of a monster. During her trial, Hanna uses a standard defense used by many former Nazi defendants who stated that they were merely doing their job in whatever capacity they were employed. In one respect, one could almost make the case that there was an element of mental illness involved in her make up, particularly when she comments on why she didn't allow the prisoners in the burning church an opportunity to escape and survive. There's that, and Hanna's overwhelming obsession to keep her illiteracy a secret, to the extent of taking the fall for the other women on trial with her who may have had even more culpability, if that were even possible.I'd like to say that Kate Winslet deserved her Best Actress Win for the picture but I haven't seen any of the other films her competition appeared in. Strictly speaking though, Winslet's performance arcs through all the ranges of human experience one can imagine and presents a thoroughly conflicted character. Ralph Fiennes also turns in a worthy performance, and I would have to concur with another reviewer who felt that the character Michael Berg may indeed have lived a wasted life. His attempt at rehabilitating Hanna in her prison cell may have seemed noteworthy, but one wonders how much of it was done out of compassion and how much out of guilt.What probably appalled me most about the story was when the five women on trial with Hanna all received a mere sentence of four years and three months for their role as concentration camp guards. Even if one were to apply some sort of moral equivalency to their role along side Hanna, the idea that Hanna received a life sentence made their punishment seem minor by comparison. All because their feigned indignation made Hanna out to be the leader of the group, when in fact, any one of them could have expressed some humanity during the church incident that the others might have fallen in line with.

While taking a German course in undergrad, I read Bernhard Schlink's 1995 novel "Der Vorleser" (which more accurately translates to "the narrator"). I naturally thought that it would make an interesting movie. Sure enough, they eventually made one. It took me several years before I got around to seeing it, but now I have.The main gist of "The Reader" centers on the complexity of Hanna Schmitz as a person, but also on responsibility for one's actions. Hanna might have been merely a cog in the machine, but that doesn't excuse her deeds. Indeed, part of the purpose of writing the novel was so that Germany could collectively accept responsibility for its actions.Kate Winslet (who won a well deserved Oscar for the decidedly unglamorous role) portrays Hanna as a tragic figure, someone who might have not fully understood what she was doing but probably should have, and so she did eventually have to face the consequences. In the end, it doesn't matter whether or not Hanna understood what she was doing; she still made the choice to do it.Ralph Fiennes plays Hanna's paramour as an adult, doing what he can for her (while knowing full well what she did). Nonetheless, the movie belongs to Winslet. This is another masterpiece from Stephen Daldry, also the director of "Billy Elliot", "The Hours", and "Trash" (about some boys in Brazil's slums).

A boy and A woman meet out of life's routine chaos. Its as if life brought them together for a purpose. Boy fulfills his sexual fantasies and also gets mother like love from the woman. While the woman gets a companion that she always needed, for cheer n for forgetting her pains. The story is of happiness till here. Then life moves on. They part. After a few years meet again at a trial. Boy comes to know that the women is convicted for crime but she did all that in ignorance as she could not read n write. Here SHAME is the problem. Because of the shame she can't admit that she is illiterate n save herself. Because of shame the boy cant admit his love and care for the women. she spends 20 years in prison. She is learning to read n boy helps her out by sending audio tapes of his reading. But all these years they don't meet n never express love. Before her release from jail they meet. The meeting is very much dry with formalities talk. She is depressed with the meeting. the guilt about the wrongs that she did in past amplifies further because of lack of love from her lover and she hangs herself. In short...Excess guilt, excess shame lead to self destructive behavior. Guilt, shame killed something that was so beautiful, so divine between two peopleThe movie is very well done. the actors, scenes everything is fine. some "very realistic acting" you can almost live in it!!!