The Reader

 The Reader (08)
directed by Stephen Daldry
***3/4

Stories that touch on the Holocaust appeal to our vulnerability, our human sense of what's wrong in the folds of our own heart. Vulnerability is the reason a masterful retelling can have us so easily under its spell; it's also why a disappointing, redundant version seems to verge on blasphemy.

The Reader resolves to live in this grey zone; its determination to wrestle with the subject again is one of the film's virtues. Instead of giving us another lesson about history's public evils or another simplistic Nazi hunt, this film wants to ask questions that don't get answered. It wants us to crawl back into a vulnerable space, and stay there, a little longer this time — at least the span of the film, if not much longer. It wants us to see the Holocaust inside ourselves.

The story, set in post-WW2 Germany, is as simple as it is provocative. Teenage Michael enters an affair with the older Hanna almost by accident. He is exuberant and filled with adolescent discovery; she is inexplicable, both in her reasons for entering the relationship and in her silent reluctance to share any more of herself with him. Instead of talking, she asks him to read — anything, everything. From his literature assignments for school to fluff to classics of the western tradition, they begin to plot their thin relationship by the signposts of fictional realities. For both of them, the reading seems awaken something, something too fascinating and foreign to resist.

Then, one day, Hanna is gone, her apartment as suddenly vacant as her past ever was to him. And we're banished into two slices of future, where both the university-aged Michael and his late-middle-aged version are still haunted by this brief liaison. Their struggle becomes the leitmotif that sets the affair into counterpoint, creating the tension that will ultimately break the story open.

In university, Michael is a law student, and a very bright one at that. His professor, brought to life by the brilliant Bruno Ganz, challenges his pupils to face the hard facts of life: law is a judge, but no redeemer. And sometimes, it's not even qualified to be the judge. As if on cue, an actual case leaps into reality: a trial of concentration camp guards, some decades after the war had ended. The reason they are guilty enough now to stand trial? — they've had a book written about them by a girl who survived the camps. It should be no surprise, and yet a surprise, to learn that Hanna is one of the guards. And Michael, watching from the courtroom balcony, soon learns that her guilt is not the only secret the trial will reveal about Hanna.

It is here that most stories would slip into pure sentiment: Michael will shout from the balcony, declaring her innocence. He will be shamed, but maybe, just maybe, she will be released in time for them to flee to the countryside. The Reader is not that film. Instead, we become tangled in the lingering questions... Did Hanna ever care for Michael? Does she now? Is she lying, and if so, why? Why is guilt in particular decisions worse than guilt in others? (As Eliot says), after such knowledge, what forgiveness? What did reading do for Hanna, and what is reading this film meant to do for us? Can reading ever truly bring redemption?

The story is lyrical enough, but a fine cast of actors creates music from it. Kate Winslet is sunk down into her role, bringing as many layers to her character as there are acts in the film. She was deservingly nominated for Best Actress for this film instead of the stagey, shallower Revolutionary Road. Young actor David Kross turns in an impressive performance as young Michael (keep your eye on him in the future). And Ralph Fiennes delivers his second wonderful role of the year: after his maniacal brute in In Bruges, this complex, delicate man shows just what a range he owns as an actor.

As with any film that plays in vulnerable spaces, there are missteps. Some viewers have complained about confusion with the era changes; others felt the end of the film was either unnecessary or delayed too long. Some have even pointed out a significant omission that may have either clarified or sentimentalized the closing scenes. In any case, it is such a wonder of a work of art, so finely tuned and deeply resonant, that it really sits in its own league among Best Picture nominees this year. It may not be perfect, but The Reader is by far the most nuanced, suggestive, provocative film in competition.

Note: The film does contain quite a bit of sexuality and nudity. As such, it will not be a wise choice for everyone.

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