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The Reader
By: M. Enois Duarte, 4.23.2009
The Movie Itself:
Of all the wars this world has had to endure, it seems as if Word War II is the most intriguing. Its affects on history offer a great wealth of themes and subject matters for storytellers to explore. Since the beginning, Hollywood was fascinated with the war, as demonstrated by such releases as Hitler, Beast of Berlin (1939), Escape to Glory (1940), Burma Convoy (1941), and of course, Casablanca (1942). Despite several wars since then, filmmakers carry on our interest with a variety of perspectives over those six years (e.g., The Pianist, Max, Downfall, The Counterfeiters, Max Manus), with particular attention to one of the most disturbing events in human history: the Holocaust. The reason? Most likely, because we desperately want to understand "how" and "why". It's part of our nature to contemplate and investigate.
Based on a novel of the same name by Bernhard Schlink, The Reader is yet another film that revolves around the Holocaust, but examines it from a different point of view. Though the film opens with Ralph Fiennes as Michael Berg in 1995, the real story commences with a younger version of his former self in 1958 and played by David Kross. That summer, he becomes the willing participant of an sexually-charged love affair with a much older woman named Hanna Schmitz (Kate Winslet) and asked to read to her with each liason. One day, she mysteriously leaves without mentioning a thing to Michael, only to see her again a decade later on trial for war crimes she committed as a Nazi prison guard. While this is an upsetting surprise for Michael, Hanna hides still another secret that will determine her path in life.
Regardless of some arguably major changes, director Stephen Daldry and screenwriter David Hare remain faithful to the original source. They detail Michael and Hanna's sexual relationship with a certain mature explicitness meant only to express a teenage boy's passionate experience. But for audiences, it functions as exposition to a larger part of the narrative, that being how new knowledge informs one's thoughts or beliefs about the collective past. And Kross, the young German-born actor, does a terrific job of showing this sudden shift of emotion and psychology, while Fiennes excellently conveys a man weighed down by moral confusion and emotionally ruined. The real star of this moving drama, of course, is Kate Winslet in a marvelous performance as a woman too ashamed of her past and who she is to relate with humanity in general. With the help of cinematographers Rogers Deakins and Chris Menges, The Reader is a beautiful looking film and sadly the last memorable one of producers Anthony Minghella and Sydney Pollack.
The film is also powerfully provocative as it explores various questions about the foolish decisions people make with ignorance, shame, and guilt as their guide. Naturally, those things do not excuse Hanna's or anybody's actions, but they opens doors to other points of discussion. While the pace of the film is driven by issues of German guilt, with memories of what happened still fresh in people's mind, it exposes with equal measure concerns of something more universal. One law student even asks the point of the court hearing --- why do these women deserve a fair trail when their actions are so obviously immoral? The entire courtroom is comprised of Germans judging the actions of other German people during the Nazi regime. Essentially, they are judging themselves. By holding someone accountable, can you remove your own sense of guilt?
When Hanna brazenly asks, "What would you have done?" we are suddenly challenged with memories of Abu Ghraib prison, the fight for Civil Rights and American slavery, and followers of extreme fundamentalism. The point is compliancy over ethics, of taking the time to think before going along. Their sexual relationship in the beginning is clearly wrong, but neither stops to acknowledge it in advance. Instead, they go along with it. It's only after the fact that many see the error in their actions. Almost never beforehand. The result is shame and guilt, two very powerful emotions within the human psyche. Hanna and Michael are both very much alike in this sense. He refuses to disclose his relationship with Hanna, even to save her from sentencing, for simple shame and guilt. She is also secretive of her past for the same reasons. He fears the eyes of disgust from his own peers, much as she fears them from her own nation.
We are confronted with the rejection of moral choices and the guilt which follows it. Michael's choice could be understood in basic terms attributed to youth and shame, but Hanna's choices may forever be unfathomable. The film openly invites discussion about accountability. Whether one sees Nazi sympathizing in Hanna's secret or a dialogue on German guilt, the audience is left with much to talk about. Ultimately, The Reader is not simply another Holocaust film. It makes an excellent depiction of our instinctive desire to understand our world and its sometime perverse actions. Unfortunately, the answer continues to evade our comprehension.
Rating: 9/10
The Presentation:
The Weinstein Company debuts The Reader with a squeaky-clean AVC MPEG-4 encode and presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio. The lovely photography of Roger Deakins (Doubt, No Country for Old Men) and Chris Menges (Dirty Pretty Things, North Country) is wonderfully rendered on Blu-ray, retaining a thinly veiled grain structure that never detracts, but gives the picture a pleasant filmic appeal. Though not immediately apparent or comparable to other razor-sharp presentations, the image offers wonderful clarity and well-defined lines, exposing a great deal of architectural detail and background objects, as well as fine textural patterns in clothing and facial complexions.
The color palette is nicely saturated and warm, with special attention to sepia and amber tones to better reflect German summers. During Winter and Fall sequences, hues are intentionally reserved for a more achromatic and sombre appearance. A comfortably bright contrast adds to the overall effect with great visibility and immaculate whites that never bloom or troubled by noise. Black levels were also richly deep with excellent gradational variance, providing the image with a pleasantly sustained depth of field. In nighttime and dark interior scenes, delineation held up nicely as objects bathed in shadows were clearly visible. Actors maintained a natural and almost lifelike appearance throughout. This is an accurate, if not faithful, reproduction of the film's original intent and looks excellent on Blu-ray.
Rating: 8.8/10
Accompanying the marvelous picture quality of The Reader is an unexpectedly active Dolby TrueHD soundtrack with a terrific balance of random sounds and a light musical score by Nico Muhly. When appropriate for generating emotion, Muhly's inconspicuous music is incredibly transparent and subtle, exhibiting smooth fidelity and quietly working its way into the rear soundscape for immersing the audience into the drama.
The real focus of attention, of course, is the vocalization of the cast, speaking entirely with a German accent. Delivering clean and crisp tonal inflections unique to each actor, dialogue is intelligible throughout, despite several moments of whispered interactions. Considerable attention is also given to creating a sense of realism, with a spaciously warm and expansive soundstage, coupled with some rear activity for atmospheric ambiance that nicely expands the soundfield. Adding some spacial dimension is a wonderful dynamic range that fills the room and supported by the appropriate low-frequency effects. Equally impressive are the acoustics of exterior scenes (such as the discrete sound of rain or the construction outside Hanna's flat) and interior sequences (particularly the echoes of voices inside the courtroom). Being a drama, the lossless track for The Reader is a surprising and pleasant experience.
Rating: 8.0/10
Overall Presentation: 8/10
** 9-10 = Reference / 8 = Excellent / 7 = Good /
6 = Satisfactory / 5 = Average / 4 & under = Below Average **
The Extras:
Porting over the same bonus material as its DVD counterpart, The Weinstein Co. provides this Blu-ray edition of The Reader with a slightly unimpressive supplemental package. Despite the lack of an audio commentary track, the features are interesting, but all presented in standard definition.
- Adapting a Timeless Masterpiece: Making The Reader (23 min)
As the title implies, this short doc features interviews with cast and crew about the film's production.
- A Conversation with David Kross and Stephen Daldry (10 min)
The director sits down with the German-born actor and discusses his thoughts about the film.
- Kate Winslet on the Art of Aging Hanna Schmitz (12 min)
The actress talks about her age transformation, while watching the application of make-up and prosthetics.
- A New Voice: A Look at composer Nico Muhly (4 min)
An introduction piece to the composer.
- Coming to Grips with the Past: Production Designer Brigitte Broch (7 min)
A quick look at the production design and her feelings about the film.
- Deleted Scenes (42 min)
This collection of eleven scenes are actually quite fascinating and unfortunate to have been removed from the final cut.
- Theatrical Trailer
Preview of the film rounds out the package.
Rating: 4/10
Final Thoughts:
A powerfully provocative drama, The Reader is undoubtedly a difficult Holocaust film to watch, with focus placed on a perpetrator rather than the victims of Nazi hate. The complex film posits challenging moral questions with no easy answers, but spurs discussion. The Weinstein Co releases the film on Blu-ray with a very lovely video and audio presentation that will surely impress, and supported by a decent collection of supplements. The Reader on Blu-ray is worth checking out.
Rating: 7/10
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