THE MOVIE PAGES presents KATE WINSLET in THE READER thereader.htm

What Do The Critics Say?

"Produced by the late Anthony Minghella and Sidney Pollack, The Reader raises issues of fundamental morality. We understand the different pain and conflict facing both Hanna and Michael and cry for each of them. The story is shocking, but in a way that will surprise and unsettle you."
Louise Keller URBAN CINEFILE
"Built around Kate Winslet's enigmatic Hanna, this impeccably staged, nuanced drama is not easily forgotten."
John Wirt THE ADVOCATE
"Outstanding performances define "The Reader," but all pale in comparison with Kate Winslet's Hanna."
Bob Bloom LAFEYETTE JOURNAL AND COURIER
"Impressively directed, superbly acted and emotionally engaging, this is a thought-provoking drama that practically screams Oscar."
Matthew Turner VIEWLONDON
"The Reader is a thoughtful and absorbing film, which is packed with delicately-structured twists and punctuated with truly impressive performances."
Mark Adams DAILY MIRROR
"David Kross is outstanding in his first English language role as the young Michael, a teenager who falls ill and is comforted one rainy afternoon by this stranger. Bruno Ganz is authoritative as the law professor who poses pertinent (and large) questions to Michael about the human condition."
Andrew L Urban URBAN CINEFILE

"Winslet’s intricate performance and Daldry’s skills of persuasion make it a worthy memorial to its producers, Sydney Pollack and Anthony Minghella, the values of whose own films it faithfully replicates."
Derek Malcolm THIS IS LONDON
"The Reader is a bold and provocative film and one of the most exquisite of 2008."
Michael Granberry DALLAS MORNING NEWS
"Moviegoers become enthusiastic voyeurs not only of an engaging love affair but how truth and reconciliation can finally exist in the same place."
Diana Saenger REVIEW EXPRESS
"This is an emotional look at a complex issue by director Stephen Daldry, with exceptional performances by Kate Winslet and David Kross."
Tony Medley TOLUCAN TIMES
"Scripter David Hare's adaptation is so beautifully crafted, it makes me want to read the book."
Robin Clifford REELING REVIEWS
"A triumphant performance by Kate Winslet anchors the year's most disturbing Holocaust movie."
Kurt Loder MTV
"Provocatively intentioned, The Reader is a movie worth seeing: the kind of film you'll think about for days afterward"
Elizabeth Weitzman NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Synopsis

When teenager Michael Berg becomes ill in an alleyway, Hanna, a stranger twice his age helps him home. Later, when he has recovered from scarlet fever, he seeks her out to thank her. The two are quickly drawn into a passionate but secretive affair. Michael discovers that Hanna loves being read to and their physical relationship deepens. Hanna is enthralled as Michael reads to her from "The Odyssey", "Huck Finn" and "The Lady with the Little Dog". Despite their intense bond, Hanna mysteriously disappears one day and Michael is left confused and heartbroken. Eight years later, Michael is a law. His Professor takes a group of students to observe Nazi war crime trials. Michael is stunned to find Hanna back in his life: but this time it is as one a group of defendants in the courtroom. As Hanna’s past is revealed, Michael uncovers a deep secret that will impact on both of their lives.

The Verdict "When I reiewed "Revolutionary Road" recently, I remarked about how excited I was at the prospect of seeing Kate Winslet in "The Reader". My observation at the time was: "after seeing her remarkable turn as April Wheeler in "Revolutionary Road", I am even more excited. Why? Well, all I can say is this: if she has received an Oscar ® nomination for "The Reader", it must be one hell of a performance." Winslet who won hearts with her performance in "Titanic" is always a joy to watch and undoubtedly one of the finest actresses around. She is 'the' star of "The Reader" a film that mirrors "Revolutionary Road". Both films confront audiences. Both are dark tales. Both films force us into a corner because we must make moral judgements. There is no escaping that fact. Though their affair is one that wouldn't be condoned or tolerated in our times, the young Michael Berg wins us over with his boyish charm and naïvety. It's hard not to like him. But that quickly changes when later, as a law student, he comes to a crossroads in his young life. The decision he makes turns us against him. Now he becomes someone many will find easy to despise: a person we have no empithy for. Despite the darkness, "The Reader" is a truly beautiful film, deserving the highest of commendations. 5 STARS." The Inside Story

The compelling story of "The Reader" in many ways touches on the deeply transformative power of words and literacy. So it seems fitting that the film originated with a lyrically simple, yet emotionally jarring, book: "a formally beautiful, disturbing and, finally, morally devastating novel," according to the Los Angeles Times. Written by Berlin law professor and mystery novelist Bernhard Schlink, the semi-autobiographical work was published in 1995, later translated into fourty other languages, and became the first German novel to top the New York Times bestseller list, garnering widespread attention in 1999 after Oprah Winfrey chose the title for her popular book club. "Who would have guessed that a book only two hundred and eighteen pages long could stir up so many emotions?" asked Winfrey, who noted that more men read the novel than any of her other book club selections before it was discussed on her program. Schlink states that the story is about what we call "the second generation", which describes "the lucky late-born" children of the post-war years. "We grew up in a very naïve way until, at some point, we realized just what our parents and pastors and teachers had done. When you love someone who has been engaged in something awful, it can entangle you." In Germany, the movement towards comprehending the war even required its own psychological term: vergangenheitsbewältigung, meaning "the struggle to come to terms with the past." The novel is considered so important to understanding the country’s history that it has even been used as a textbook in German schools. Film rights to The Reader were acquired by Harvey Weinstein and Miramax Films in 1996. At Weinstein’s urging the late Anthony Minghella and his late production partner Sydney Pollack became involved, with Minghella intending to both pen the screenplay and direct. But stage dramatist Sir David Hare, later to become an Academy Award nominee for his screenwriting work on "The Hours", also read the Schlink book and yearned to adapt it. Since Minghella had just swept the Academy Awards with "The English Patient" and was mulling over several more epic projects, Hare tried to cajole him into handing over writing chores on "The Reader", but Minghella remained determined to develop the script himself. Nearly a decade later, with no screenplay completed, Daldy: who studied German as a boy and had lived in Berlin, began asking Minghella about the possibility of directing "The Reader". Realizing it would be some time before he himself could become so involved with the production, Minghella agreed to let Daldry direct, provided it became Daldry’s next project, and that he and 1986 Oscar ® winner Pollack (Best Director & Best Picture "Out Of Africa") would stay on board as producers. As far as getting a screenplay, Daldry naturally thought of Hare. "We did "The Hours", and so this is the second complicated and hugely ambitious film we’ve made together. We're very deeply bonded, much like people who have been to war together: we know each other’s strengths and weaknesses," says Hare, who picked up three awards (including the Golden Berlin Bear) for "Wetherby" at the 1985 Berlin International Film Festival. Those who've read Schlink’s novel "Der Vorleser", know the story unfolds chronologically in three distinct segments. The film version "jumps through time." "There have been two hundred and fifty two films made about the Holocaust," says Daldry, "and I hope there are at least as many more."

While Hare, Daldry, Minghella and Pollack understood the value of cinematic innovation and experimentation, one aspect of the project never wavered: respect and honor for those victims of Nazi war crimes. There was an understanding among the principals that the term 'forgiveness' would not be mentioned: the film, in fact, avoids vague notions of redemption or forgiveness but, instead, deals with the very real problem of how a new generation comes to terms with its tarnished past. To this end, both the screenwriter and the director toured Germany with author Schlink to discuss post-war guilt and the contentious reactions his novel provoked. "The book is of huge historical significance in Germany," says Daldry. "It is the singular novel addressing the problem of How do we continue after what we have done?" "It attracted both the most extraordinary praise and the most violent attacks," Hare observed. "Trying to explore and understand Nazi crimes is a dangerous and volatile business: you can unintentionally cross a line that you don’t wish to." "The film tackles war crimes head on," says the 2001 Alexander Korda Award winning director ("Billy Elliot"). "It exposes ordinary people who commit these crimes: the banality of evil." Author Bernhard Schlink ("The Other Man") participated in ways he might have never imagined; even appearing as an extra in an outdoor beer garden scene where ill-fated lovers Hanna and Michael have lunch during a bicycling holiday. It was there he saw Daldry’s obsessions with accuracy and honesty down to the smallest, slightest detail, whether it involved a period prop or a quick glimpse by one of the actors. "Stephen has a sensitivity for the most tiny, subtle things, and that’s something I greatly admire." From the start, novelist Schlink had imagined actress Kate Winslet for the pivotal role of Hanna Schmitz, the thirty six year old tram worker who has an illicit affair with a teenage boy and later is revealed to have been a concentration camp guard hiding yet another terrible secret. "Kate Winslet was always my first choice," he said. "She’s a sensuous, earthy woman, exactly like Hanna." When it came to reading his novel, five time UK Empire Award winning actress Winslet explained, "I'm a relatively slow reader, but I just could not put it down and finished it in one day." At the time, however, Winslet was only twenty seven and felt far too young to tackle the part. By the time director Daldry reached out to her in early 2007, however, she had matured enough to handle the physically demanding role, in which the character ages from a strong, sexual woman in her mid-thirties to a bedraggled matron in her late sixties. Working with director Daldry was exhilarating for Winslet, who describes their "collaborative relationship" as "almost as if we’re from the same tribe. He has this unstoppable energy, and such a profound love for the story. As well as a very clear idea of how he wants the story to be told, he’s very happy for others to share ideas and come up with what’s best for the scene." For the role of Michael Berg, the youngster whose life is forever changed by his relationship with Hanna, Daldry selected two actors to cover the character’s dramatic thirty-year story arc: relative newcomer David Kross ("Hands off Mississippi") and veteran Ralph Fiennes ("The Constant Gardener"). "The Reader"marks the third film for German actor Kross and his first-ever role in English, a language he perfected while making the movie. Daldry was determined to find a German youth for the role of Michael.

Daldry auditioned Kross repeatedly to make sure he was the right choice. Initially, Kross’ mother felt the acting job might interfere with her son’s schooling, but she agreed to let him take the part if his year-end grades were strong: he studied especially hard, passed his courses with near-perfect results, and eventually landed the role. Kross worked as much as seven hours daily with dialect coach William Conacher ("Flyboys" & "Goal!") not only to learn his character’s dialogue , but also how to read Horace in Latin, and Sappho in Greek, in addition to other literature he recites in the film. "The challenge to me as a dialect coach was how to help a German cast speak English in a way that the audience would believe they were speaking their own language, and then find a way to slot Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes into it". Because the storyline relies on depicting the sexual relationship between Hanna and Michael, the film’s entire shooting schedule was structured so that Kross; who was just fifteen when first cast, turned eighteen before any of the bedroom scenes were shot. The disparity in years between middle-aged Hanna and young Michael was one of the most controversial aspects of the novel: yet the story would simply not work any other way. "Hanna and Michael are thirty six and fifteen respectively so that they are truly of two generations," Daldry explained. "Any closer age difference would change that." During her televised book club discussion of "The Reader", nine time EMMY award winner Oprah Winfrey directly addressed the characters age differences and its importance to the story. "Horrible things happen to people in many books I read that I consider to be part of the literature landscape, but I don’t disown them or not embrace them because their stories are not comfortable for me. "You can love the book without loving the relationship. I’m not condoning the relationship," Winfrey said. "Why couldn’t the boy have been older? Well, it would have been a completely different story." 1999 European Film Award winner Fiennes ("Sunshine") says he was initially attracted to "The Reader" because of the way the script balanced complex emotional issues. "The questions it asks about blame, judgment, guilt, love, sexuality are all quite complicated, but in the end it’s a very humane story. The mark of a good screenplay is often that it seems simple, but the simple scenes include huge things. The beauty of this screenplay is that, in sentences which seem like an ordinary conversation, the undercurrents are full of different meanings and layers." Winslet thought Kross was 'perfect' for the role of the young man who matures before our eyes. "David is remarkably similar to Michael Berg: he’s a very serious person, incredibly professional and sensitive. He’s willing to try things and wants to learn and grow." "He is very natural, intelligent and aware, with a gentle humor that seems to float just beneath the surface," says Fiennes. While a few location scenes took place in New York, the film was primarily filmed in several German cities including Berlin, Gorlitz and Cologne, with some outdoor sequences shot in the countryside on the border between Germany and the Czech Republic. "The only way to make the film was to do it in Germany, with a German crew," Daldry says. The film's creative team boasts an array of acclaimed Academy ® Award winning craftspeople: two time Oscar ® winning director of photography Chris Menges ("The Mission" and "The Killing Fields"), and Oscar® winners: editor Claire Simpson ("Platoon"), costume designer Ann Roth ("The English Patient") and production designer Brigitte Broch ("Moulin Rouge"). Crew Bytes "THE READER" was .......
directed by Stephen Daldry ["Eight" and "Billy Elliot"]; screenplay by David Hare ["Paris by Night", "Damage" and "The Secret Rapture"]; adapted from the book by Bernhard Schlink ["SelbsJustiz" and "The Other Man"]; costume design by Ann Roth ["Signs", "Mamma Mia!" and "Doubt"] and Donna Maloney ["Nonplussed"]; production design by Brigitte Broch ["Real Women Have Curves", "21 Grams" and "Vantage Point"]; edited by Claire Simpson ["Platoon", "The Mambo Kings", "The Fan" and "The Constant Gardener"]; set decoration by Eva Stiebler ["Lichter" and "Alles auf Zucker!"]; original music by Nico Muhly ["The Manchurian Candidate", "Notes On A Scandal" and "Be Kind Rewind"]. Who's Who?

Ralph Fiennes
Kate Winslet
Bruno Ganz
Jeanette Hain
David Kross
Vijessna Ferkic
Susanne Lothar
Alissa Wilms
Florian Bartholomäi
Friederike Becht
Matthias Habich
Frieder Venus
Marie-Anne Fliegel
Rainer Sellien
Moritz Grove
Hans Hohlbein
Jürgen Tarrach
Kirsten Block
Vanessa Berthold
Benjamin Trinks
Fritz Roth
Hannah Herzsprung

...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...

Michael Berg
Hanna Schmitz
Professor Rohl
Brigitte
Young Michael Berg
Sophie
Carla Berg
Emily Berg
Thomas Berg
Angela Berg
Peter Berg
Doctor
Hanna's Neighbor
Teacher
Holger
Clerk
Gerhard Bade
Female Judge
Sophie's Friend
Holger's Friend
Tram Supervisor
Julia