The Reader (2008)
- Starring:
- Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes, (more)
- Director(s):
- Stephen Daldry
- Theatrical MPAA Rating:
- R
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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name, the film opens on the character of Michael Berg (Ralph Fiennes) in middle age -- cold, remote, and emotionally withdrawn.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. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Complete Cast:
- Kate Winslet - Hanna Schmitz
- David Kross - Young Michael Berg
- Matthias Habich - Peter Berg
- Karoline Herfurth - Marthe
- Volker Bruch - Dieter
- Hannah Herzsprung - Julia
- Lena Olin - Rose Mather/Ilana Mather
- Florian Bartholomai - Thomas Berg
- Alissa Wilms - Emily Berg
- Marie Anne Fliegel - Hanna's neighbor
- Jürgen Tarrach - Gerhard Bade
- Ralph Fiennes - Michael Berg
- Bruno Ganz - Professor Rohl
- Susanne Lothar - Carla Berg
- Alexandra Maria Lara - Young Ilana Mather
- Burghart Klaußner - Judge
- Vijnessa Ferkic - Sophie
- Jeanette Hain - Brigitte
- Friederike Becht - Angela Berg
- Frieder Venus - Doctor
- Moritz Grove - Holger
- Director(s):
- Stephen Daldry
- Writer(s):
- David Hare
- Producer(s):
- Anthony Minghella, Scott Rudin, Sydney Pollack
- Theatrical MPAA Rating:
- R(Sexual Situations, Nudity)
- Closed Captioning:
- Check All Versions
- Subtitles:
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- 2008 - The Reader - Alliance of Women Film Journalists - Best Depiction of Nudity or Sexuality
- 2008 - The Reader - Alliance of Women Film Journalists - Best Actress
- 2008 - The Reader - Chicago Film Critics Association - Best Supporting Actress
- 2008 - The Reader - Hollywood Foreign Press Association - Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
- 2008 - The Reader - Las Vegas Film Critics Association - Best Young Actor
- 2008 - The Reader - Las Vegas Film Critics Association - Best Actress
- 2008 - The Reader - San Diego Film Critics Association - Best Actress
- 2008 - The Reader - Vancouver Film Critics - Best Actress
