Sins of the fatherland are at the heart of this demanding postwar drama, writes Michael Dwyer
OVER THE past four years, German film-makers have confronted the darkest chapters of their country's 20th century history in such robust productions as Downfall, The Lives of Others and The Baader Meinhof Gang. Directors from other countries continue to be drawn to the Nazi era in movies as diverse as the imminent Defiance, Valkyrie, Good and Inglourious Basterds, and most recently in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and now The Reader.
David Hare's time-shifting screenplay for The Reader is based on law professor Bernhard Schlink's semi-autobiographical 1995 novel, which had the dual distinction of being added to the German school curriculum and selected for Oprah Winfrey's book club.
Schlink has described his theme as "the second generation, the lucky late-born children of the war years". It explores how they reacted to the activities of antecedents who were led or coerced to believe they did the right thing during the war, however inexplicable that concept may appear.
As Stephen Daldry's film of The Reader opens in Berlin in 1995, it's clear that middle-aged lawyer Michael Berg (Ralph Fiennes) remains deeply troubled by the past. "Does any woman ever stay long enough to see what's in your mind?" asks his latest overnight companion as she leaves. Flashbacks to 1958 reveal the relationship that haunted Berg for the rest of his life.
Michael (now played by German actor David Kross) has a fateful encounter with Hanna (Kate Winslet), a tram conductor, when she sees him vomiting in the rain and takes him home. When he recovers from scarlet fever, Michael goes to thank her. Although she is more than twice his age, Hanna rids him of his clothes and his inhibitions, and they begin an explicitly passionate sexual affair. He responds enthusiastically, returning daily after school for this private tuition.
The title of the film refers to their other routine, whereby Michael reads a book to Hanna on every visit, from The Odyssey to Huckleberry Finn to Lady Chatterley's Lover. Then, they don't see each other again for eight years, until he is a law student in Heidelberg and taken to observe a Nazi war crimes trial.
That sequence raises a burning question that will perplex Michael permanently while leaving audiences conflicted, perhaps, as they contemplate the weighty moral dilemma that is raised. Individual responses most likely will prove as divisive as the film itself in what it dares to address. That issue is the sustaining element of the scenario's later stretches, as the dramatic momentum established earlier ebbs away.
The Reader is a difficult film, coldly dispassionate, and such a sobering experience that it seems tactless to comment on the remarkable quality of its cinematography or the meticulous period production design, for example.
What cannot go without saying is that the film's compelling impetus is rooted in Winslet's vivid, powerfully expressive portrayal of her complex character. That is exemplified by such details as her subtle changes of posture from when Hanna is the boss in the bedroom or on the tram, to when all power is taken away from her.
The film carries a dedication "in loving memory" of two of its producers, Anthony Minghella and Sydney Pollack, both directors in their own right, who died last year.
