The Reader
Been wanting to watch this movie since it earned Kate Winslet a Best Actress Oscar. Heard from friends that it was pretty awesome as well.
Anyways, didn’t know at all what to expect other than Kate Winslet and something about the Holocaust, so I had fun trying to predict what would happen next or what kind of direction the movie would take. It wasn’t wholly difficult to predict and I wasn’t especially surprised at anything, but it wasn’t at all boring despite being slow-paced.
The romance part in the first half was very good and was /just/ emotional enough to remain pretty unembellished. There’s actually quite a bit of nudity in the first half and there are also a few very tastefully done sex scenes. They’re so tastefully done that they seem natural, but one has to remind oneself that the guy is actually supposed to be only 15 in the movie, and well…yeah. It’s also worthwhile to note that this romance section was imperative to setting up the rest of the movie, because if this part wasn’t well done, the audience wouldn’t have been able to feel what the characters tried to convey in the rest of the film at all. It’s a hard thing to describe, but seriously, it’s just very good. Also, David Kross’s Michael was one of my favourite characters in the film because of how naturally innocent-like he was. He really did a good job showing off how naive the young Michael was, and how Michael grew up to be more critical and whatever. Kross was also really good at reading, his reading scenes were probably my favourite in the movie. The chemistry between Winslet and Kross leaves a little to be desired, but to me it was still a charmingly portrayed relationship.
The rest of the movie was awesome as well, but that might be because I’m biased towards Ralph Fiennes. He’s a lot more subdued and constantly-pained than Kross’s young Michael, but that’s to be expected. As a result, he might’ve seemed slightly emotionless or indifferent, but I personally was able to understand what emotions he tried to convey. When he did express more emotion than usual, though, those scenes were priceless and can most likely reduce more sensitive viewers to tears.
Uhh, the above review wasn’t exactly what I wanted to write, but it’s about 43% there. The movie is actually really hard to describe, and one should really see it for themselves to understand its appeal. It’s thought-provoking in a way but also a little heartrending (?), and even though it possibly inappropriately makes you sympathize with someone who shouldn’t wholly be sympathized with, it’s still an awesome film. All in all, really good, indescribable movie. I’m not surprised that they had a hard time marketing it. That promo poster has a pretty misleading slogan, but hey, I can’t think of a better one myself. Here, have a 94.5/100!
