Reader

Theatrical Release Date: 2008 (USA) / 2009 01 09 (USA) / 2008 12 10 (USA - Limited) / 2008 (USA) / 2008 12 12 (USA - Limited)

UPC: 796019819596

Studio: Weinstein Company

MPAA Rating: R   Contains:[Nudity, Sexual Situations]

Summary: 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name, the film opens on the character of Michael Berg (Ralph Fiennes) in middle age -- cold, remote, and emotionally withdrawn.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, Rovi

Category: Drama

Awards: Best Supporting Actress – Broadcast Film Critics Association Best Young Actor – Las Vegas Film Critics Association Best Actress – Las Vegas Film Critics Association Screenwriter of the Year – London Film Critics Association Best Screenplay – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Director – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Picture - Drama – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Actress – Southeastern Film Critics Association Best British Actress – London Film Critics Association Best Actress – San Diego Film Critics Association Best Picture – Southeastern Film Critics Association Best Depiction of Nudity or Sexuality – Alliance of Women Film Journalists Best Actress – Alliance of Women Film Journalists Best Young Actor/Actress – Broadcast Film Critics Association Best Picture – Broadcast Film Critics Association Best Picture – Phoenix Film Critics Association Most Promising Performer – Chicago Film Critics Association Best Supporting Actress – Chicago Film Critics Association Best Cinematographer – American Society of Cinematographers Best Cinematographer – American Society of Cinematographers Best Supporting Actress – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Moti – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Cinematography – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Actress – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Actress – Vancouver Film Critics Best Cinematography – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Adapted Screenplay – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Director – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Picture – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Director – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Cinematography – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Supporting Actress – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Adapted Screenplay – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Picture – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Cinematography – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Supporting Actress – Screen Actors Guild Best Actress – London Film Critics Association Best Actress – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Features: Deleted Scenes
Adapting A Timeless Masterpiece: Making The Reader
A Conversation with David Kross & Stephen Daldry
Kate Winslet on the Art of Aging Hanna Schmitz
A New Voice: A Look at Composer Nico Muhly
Coming to Grips with the Past: Production Designer Brigitte Broch
Theatrical Trailer

Reader

Format: Blu-ray

Release Date: 04/28/2009

Audio: DHMA null, DD2 Dolby Digital Stereo

Runtime: 124 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English,French

Subtitles: Spanish,English

Jason Buchanan

Completely riveting, yet about as emotionally distant as the chilly former concentration camp guard portrayed in the film by Kate Winslet, director Stephen Daldry's Oscar-bait follow up to his 2002 award winner, The Hours, stays coolly detached despite featuring some pretty steamy sex scenes and dealing with a highly confrontational subject matter. Still, emotional impact is admittedly not the be-all and end-all of a great film, and those in search of an absorbing, intellectually stimulating study of German Holocaust guilt will certainly have something to talk about after the credits roll. The story opens in post-World War II Germany, where young student Michael Berg (David Kross) has fallen ill with scarlet fever while walking home from school. Gently guided home by a compassionate older woman named Hanna (Winslet), Michael convalesces for a few months before returning to Hanna's apartment with a bouquet of flowers. Before long, the two have become lovers: Hanna instructing Michael in the methods of pleasing a woman, and Michael reciprocating by reading her the classical texts he's been assigned in school. Later, when the relationship grows contentious and Hanna vanishes without a trace, Michael moves on to study law, eventually attending a class field trip to a German court where a group of female former concentration camp guards are being tried for war crimes. The defendant bearing most of the brunt in the trial is Hanna. She stands accused by her fellow guards of being the leader who ordered that a group of Jewish prisoners be contained in a church that was bombed into oblivion, killing everyone unfortunate enough to be locked inside at the time. Upon realizing that the very same woman whom he slept with as a teenager was complicit in the murder of hundreds of innocent Jews, Michael discovers that Hanna has accepted the charges against her in order to prevent an embarrassing truth about herself from being revealed to the court. The Reader begins as one type of film and ends as something else entirely -- effectively blindsiding the viewer as it takes a sharp turn from erotic tale of sexual awakening to austere meditation on cultural culpability. Fortunately for the viewer, both aspects of the film are expertly scripted and beautifully acted, ensuring our undivided attention even when we aren't entirely certain where the story is headed. Those willing to play along are rewarded with a film that is consistently watchable thanks in large part to strong leading performances. German newcomer Kross is a natural, while his seasoned co-star Winslet conveys her character's complexity with graceful candor. However, the film is strangely unaffecting due to a marked lack of focus in storytelling. Each plotline has the makings of an interesting, involving movie, though in the end (and admittedly not being familiar with the book) it feels as if the screenwriter, David Hare, couldn't decide which aspect of Bernhard Schlink's novel he liked most, and chose to simply split the story down the middle. Whether the source material or Hare's tinkering is to blame for the fact that the story keeps the viewer at arm's length, the end result is still the same: a film that's technically superb, yet still falls short of true greatness. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Cast and Crew: David Hare  Screenwriter 
Anthony Minghella  Producer 
Redmond Morris  Producer 
Sydney Pollack  Producer 
Bob Weinstein  Executive Producer 
Harvey Weinstein  Executive Producer 
Donna Gigliotti  Producer 
Stephen Daldry  Director 
Nico Muhly  Composer (Music Score) 
Kate Winslet  Actor 
Ralph Fiennes  Actor 
David Kross  Actor 
Bruno Ganz  Actor 
Matthias Habich  Actor 
Susanne Lothar  Actor 
Karoline Herfurth  Actor 
Alexandra Maria Lara  Actor 
Volker Bruch  Actor 
Burghart Klaußner  Actor 
Hannah Herzsprung  Actor 
Vijessna Ferkic  Actor 
Lena Olin  Actor 
Jeanette Hain  Actor 
Florian Bartholomai  Actor 
Friederike Becht  Actor 
Alissa Wilms  Actor 
Frieder Venus  Actor 
Marie Anne Fliegel  Actor 
Moritz Grove  Actor 
Jürgen Tarrach  Actor 

Country: USA