Wednesday 1st April

The Reader

Director: Stephen Daldry
Year: 2008
Stars: Kate Winslet, David Kross, Ralph Fiennes

I was a bit unsure about this film before watching it. I'd read reviews claiming it was mediocre, and although I had wanted to see it during the awards season (it's the film Kate Winslet won the Best Actress Oscar for), my interest in it had dwindled a little. But wanting a visit to the cinema (I hadn't been for a while), it seemed to be the best thing on.

The film starts slowly and takes a while to get to where it's going. But when it does, it's worth it. The less you know about what's going to happen the better, so in that respect I was glad I'd forgotten a lot of what I had read about it two months ago! The film begins when Hanna Schmitz (Winslet) has an affair with a much younger German boy, Michael Berg (Kross) in 1958. What then follows makes up the remainder of the film.

As long as you're prepared to give it a chance, you'll enjoy this film. And the first third is important, or the rest wouldn't make sense in the same way. The problem is you just don't know that at first. I'm very glad I watched it, and the performances were very good all round, not just Kate Winslets. Although I do think she was a little better in Revolutionary Road than here; but that might just be personal preference. And Ralph Fiennes being in it, of course, may have added to my enjoyment of the film a little (Fiennes being another of my favourites).

Rating: 4 out of 5