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About this movie

Genres:
Drama
Language:
English
Running time:
2:04:01
Partner rating:
R
Released:
Quality:
480 (DVD equivalent)

Cast & Crew

Cast

  1. Kate Winslet Hanna Schmitz
  2. Ralph Fiennes Michael Berg
  3. David Kross Young Michael Berg
  4. Lena Olin
  5. Bruno Ganz Professor Rohl
  6. Scarlett Johansson Cristina
  7. Penélope Cruz Maria Elena
  8. Javier Bardem Juan Antonio
  9. Rebecca Hall Vicky
  10. Patricia Clarkson Judy Nash
  11. Matthias Habich Peter Berg

Directors

  1. Woody Allen
  2. Stephen Daldry

Producers

  1. Letty Aronson
  2. Gareth Wiley
  3. Stephen Tenenbaum

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The Reader

ThumbnailPlay video in overlay2:25

Trailer for The Reader

Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes star in The Hours director Stephen Daldry's haunting period drama concerning the relationship between a 15-year-old German boy and a mysterious woman twice his age, and the way that it grows doubly complex when the man reencounters the woman years later and discovers a shocking truth about her past. Based on author Bernhard Schlink's best-selling novel of the same name, the film opens on the character of Michael ... Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes star in The Hours director Stephen Daldry's haunting period drama concerning the relationship between a 15-year-old German boy and a mysterious woman twice his age, and the way that it grows doubly complex when the man reencounters the woman years later and discovers a shocking truth about her past. Based on author Bernhard Schlink's best-selling novel of the same name, the film opens on the character of Michael Berg (Ralph Fiennes) in middle age -- cold, remote, and emotionally withdrawn. It then moves back in time to 1950s Berlin, where ailing teenager Michael (now played by David Kross) has fallen ill with fever, and is discovered in the street by Hanna, a woman in her thirties. After Michael recovers, the two immediately lapse into a torrid affair and Michael falls prey to the confusion of his own burgeoning sexuality. Their liaisons are often marked by Hanna's request that Michael read to her (hence the title). Later, when Michael returns to Hanna's flat and finds it deserted, her absence becomes an emotional blow for which he is completely unprepared, and indeed, scarred for life. The film then moves forward in time by eight years. Michael -- now a law student -- walks into a courtroom and comes across Hanna, one of a series of Nazi prison guards being tried for murderous war crimes during World War II. As he watches her on the witness stand, memories of their past experiences together bring him to the point of realization concerning a startling, long-buried truth about Hanna -- and Michael knows that if he divulges this information, it could modify the prison sentence handed out and dramatically alter her fate.

Trailer for The Reader

Reviews by Rotten Tomatoes

Scored 'fresh' by Rotten Tomatoes

61%Tomatometer score: 61% positive reviews from professional critics.

percent positive reviews

  1. Negative review
    Todd McCarthy, Variety Stephen Daldry's film is sensitively realized and dramatically absorbing, but comes across as an essentially cerebral experience without gut impact. – Full review External link
  2. Positive review
    Kristin Tillotson, Minneapolis Star Tribune If Winslet carries the complex psychological intrigue of the film on her shoulders, David Kross carries the heart of it on his. – Full review External link
  3. Positive review
    Evan Williams, The Australian It is a majestically sombre, always gripping film, told with immense restraint and no hint of sensationalism. – Full review External link
  4. Positive review
    Dave Calhoun, Time Out Sydney Its issues are infinite and moveable. It's a bold and challenging work. – Full review External link
  5. Negative review
    Julie Rigg, MovieTime, ABC Radio National The Reader does not succeed as a coherent film, despite some fine work by actors and the filmmakers' best intentions. – Full review External link
  6. Positive review
    Peter Galvin, FILMINK (Australia) The Reader is all about secrets and lies and the possibility that monstrous actions are not a function of something called Evil, but something messier, stranger and more common to all. – Full review External link

Read more reviews on Rotten Tomatoes

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YouTube Movie Extras

  1. ThumbnailPlay video in overlay23:04

    The Making of The Reader: Adapting a Timeless Masterpiece

    Watch screenwriter David Hare, director Stephen Daldry, and members of the cast and crew as they explore in-depth the development of 2008's THE READER. Disco...

    by weinsteinextras

    The Making of The Reader: Adapting a Timeless Masterpiece

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