If you have enjoyed the book The Reader by Bernhard Schlink, this film review is not all that important.  Suffice to say that, with the normal limitations you might expect, Stephen Daldry’s direction and a strong cast do justice to a difficult subject.  The differences between the book and the film are not so jarring that they pull you away.

However, if you haven’t read the book, I hope this excellent film will give you the incentive to do so.  The Reader tells the story of Michael Berg (played during his adult years by Ralph Fiennes).  Jumping back and forth in time between adulthood and his teenage years, we’re brought into postwar Germany.  The 15-year-old Michael (played quite well by German native David Kross) is stricken with scarlet fever.  Becoming ill on his way home, a trolley ticket taker (Kate Winslet) helps him.  Months later, when he is recovered, Michael brings her some flowers in thanks.  Just beginning to feel his manhood, Michael returns another day, and an affair begins.  It isn’t until his third visit that the secretive and suspicious Hanna even reveals her name to her young lover.  She educates his in lovemaking, and he (at her urging) reads to her.  From The Odyssey to Huckleberry Finn, she is deeply moved by his oral renditions.  Then, one day, she disappears from Michael’s life, leaving no word and no reason.

A law student in college, Michael takes part in a special seminar where a small group of students attend the war crimes trial of six women accused of horrific acts as guards in concentration camps.  To his amazement, Hanna Schmidt is one of those defendants, and there is no denying that she took part in terrible wrongs.  But Michael has seen the humanity and emotion inside her guarded skin, so he finds it difficult to fully comprehend why she took part or how much blame she should shoulder.  Then, when the trial takes a turn against her, he realizes things about her which had eluded him earlier – facts which could have a bearing on the case and might lighten her sentence…yet he is afraid to reveal them, as it is clear Hanna has her own reasons for keeping them hidden.

I think that if you haven’t read the book, the film plays better if you know less about the plot in advance, so I am avoiding revealing very much information.  The acting really is superb, with Kate Winslet able to combine sexuality, hardness, and ashamed confusion into a believable character.  Ralph Fiennes has a quiet manner about him, as he often does, but in this case that serves his character well.  And again, I need to single out the very strong and believable performance of David Kross.  We see him progress from unsure boy to man in a very natural way, but one which ties almost seamlessly into the Fiennes adult version.

Almost every review for The Reader I’ve seen has been glowing, and I see no reason to disagree.  There are so many issues and ideals within the film, but one important one is the beauty – and power – of the written word, for good and for evil.  So after you’ve seen the movie, do yourself a favor and personalize that message by reading the book too.