The film, in fact, moves forward all the way to 1995 where it becomes obvious that this early life relationship has shaped virtually every aspect of Michael's identity. "The Reader" is about Michael and Hannah, not their jobs or decisions, mistakes or misdeeds. "The Reader" seeks not to justify abhorrent behaviors, but to simply allow the characters to unfold within their own authenticity. Instead, "The Reader" is about Germans during this time and the lives they led and the choices they made for a wide variety of reasons.
"The Reader" is not about the Holocaust.not really. It is also in this moment that Hannah, perhaps representing many human beings swept up in the nationalist pride gone awry during the Holocaust, gives us a glimpse at a person behind the swastika. It is in these moments that Michael, wounded years earlier by Hannah, acts out of his woundedness and responds similarly. Several years later, he is at law school when he again encounters Hannah during a Frankfurt war crimes tribunal where he learns the secrets of her past. Michael is ill-prepared to handle this abandonment and over the next several years he becomes a shell of his former self. Michael, only just discovering his sexuality, exudes a comfortable sexuality while Hannah slowly peels away her layers and, bit by bit, exhibits a warmth to his affections. Their relationship is raw and vulnerable, and director Stephen Daldry uses a great amount of nudity to reveal both the story and its characters. Before long, the two enter into a "forbidden" affair that becomes both intellectually and sexually stimulating. The story begins when 15-year-old Michael gets ill and is helped by the then 30ish Hannah.
It is this lack of safety that gives "The Reader" it's authentic aura, and it is the sweepingly majestic performance of Kate Winslet that gives it its unflinching power.īased upon a German novel by Bernhard Schlink, "The Reader" follows the story of Hannah (Kate Winslet) through the eyes of Michael Berg, portrayed by Ralph Fiennes when he's older and David Kross when he's a mere teenager. "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" did so rather safely.utilizing two children and the friendship between them. As I was watching a family film earlier this year, "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas," it dawned on me that perhaps we had finally reached a point in our society where we could, without judgment, allow ourselves to see inside the humanity of those involved in the Holocaust.