I may be the "last on my block" to see this film. Be that as it may, I would not have missed it for anything. Brilliant writing, directing and amazing performances by Kate Winslet and David Kross, the inimitable Ralph Fiennes-- all bring this book to life for me. In my estimation Winslet manages (as does the unique Meryl Streep) to immerse me in the character immediately as she becomes Hannah every minute throughout the film.
So many beautiful moments: their lovemaking, her seeming rejection of the young Michael after he rides the trolley in the 2nd class section, his realization that she cannot read at the restaurant on their bicycle trip, every moment of the trial as she reveals the truth about her "job" yet is "ashamed" to reveal she is illiterate, when she circles "the" over and over in the book to teach herself to read, the despair on Hannah's face as Michael tells her he has rented her an apartment, the meeting between the Holocaust survivor and the adult Michael at the end of the film.
This film could never be taken lightly and, like the book, it will remain vividly etched in my mind for a very long time.
2 comments:
The Reader was the best movie I've seen in a long time. I'm still haunted by his dilemma of whether to expose her inability to read and write during the trial. I was also perplexed as to why he took his daughter to his former lover's grave.
I thought he wanted to give his daughter some insight into where he came from that made him who he was. But what do I know?
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