After long thought and decision, I have finally come to write my review on The Reader. Originally, I was about to give this film a 70% or an 80%, but when I thought about the film, something about the film was nudging me to give this film a lower rating. Later, after I thought over the film, I knew what that was.
You'll see what that is as you read the review. But for right now, I will have to tell you how great this film is.
The Reader is based in post-World War two, with a major part of the film being set in flashbacks during pre-World War two. Michael Berg (Ralph Fiennes), is a lawyer working in Berlin. He remembers flashbacks about his teen-hood, and a certain woman, Hanna Schmitz (Kate Winslet). He remembers how he slept with her, how she became his love, and how they left each other without ever saying good-bye. Then, a few years later, he sees her again at a war-crime trial, in which she is the defendant. as the trial goes on, Michael realizes he knows something that could save Hanna Schmitz life from being imprisoned, but only one problem; Hanna doesn't want anyone to know about this. So, the story goes on (although this is 3/4ths of it), with flashbacks and memories from the present Michael Berg, and the final conclusion of it all when Michael meets Hanna one last time.
Now, this romance-drama was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning one out of the five. Its story was nothing but original, with great passes between time, and an amazing screenplay to go with. I adore this film for its unexpectedness. Most romance films are predictable, but this one had some scenes where you didn't expect what happened to happen. I actually want to read the book that this film was based on, for that's how much I liked the story. But there is only one problem with it; they overly used sex in the film. We got the picture after the first 30 minutes that Michael Berg and Hanna Schmitz made love, but no, the directors just kept on going with the sex. It was quite erotic and unnecessary. I just hope the book doesn't have as much sex as the film did.
Next, what else made the film spectacular was Kate Winslet's performace as Hanna Schmitz. She was the person that actually gave this film a win at the Oscars. After seeing a lot of her films, I realized she never seemed to ignore those movies that get nominated or win Best Picture at the Oscars. And that's really what she deserves. David Cross also had a nice performance, but I didn't see much of Ralph Fiennes, so I cant's say anything about him. Otherwise, the acting was superb.
I also liked the Stephen Daldry's directing. He added a special flare to the film which I liked. The cinematography was also nice, considering that not ALL of the good camera shots were focused on the sex scenes.
Now, here is where I tell you the big con of this film which made it lose 10%, probably 20% of this film's ratings. As I watched the film, I realized something toward close to the end of the movie. After all the romance, drama, and joy in the film, I thought just one thing; that this was some sort of illiterate awareness film. Not that I have anything wrong with supporting literacy, but I mean, after all of the brilliance of this film, you come across one scene which changes the whole perspective of the film. What I thought to be the best romance of 2008 became a campaign to support people who can't read. I don't like those kinds of things popping up in my film, as I believe many others do not as well.
The film was also quite slow at parts, making it a bit boring to watch. It also had unnecessary scenes, just wasting time to, as to what I believe is to show off the score. The score, was actually, indeed brilliant (for I believe it deserved an Oscar nomination), but it kind of got annoying at times when it was the only thing entertaining you during the film. At one point I was wishing that the score for this film would just shut-the-heck-up, even though I loved it.
Other than the cons within it, this film is one to remember. It's kind, original, sad, happy, and mostly, moving. I don't plan on watching it soon again, but I can tell you, I'm going to give this roller coaster (although the most appropriate term would be "ferris wheel") another ride.
If you are still confused as to why I gave this film the rating it got, please visit this link below:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/user/935623/blogs/?id=703501
July 3, 2011
Top Critic
