The Reader (2008)
The Reader (2008) 7/10
Kate Winslet deserves to win an Oscar. In fact it is long overdue, and as one of the finest actresses of our generation, its about time she got to hoist the golden statuette. The question is, did she deserve to win the Best Actress Trophy for the Reader? The answer is a maybe. It was a year with relatively weak crop of Best Actress Nominees. I mean, even Angelina Jolie could get nominated for Changeling, so the quality that year wasn’t that great. My personal pick would have been Meryl Streep for Doubt, but then Streep has already won before. So by that count, it was about time Winslet won. Winslet did not win for her strongest film, and there is talk that her performance that same year in Revolutionary Road should have been nominated instead. Whatever the case, Winslet is good in The Reader.
In addition to looking fantastic in the film, Winslet has that screen charisma that steals the show when she is onscreen. It is the sort of screen magnetism that few actors and actresses possess. Which is why David Kross, who plays her onscreen beau, is overshadowed by her in every scene they share together. They lack chemistry and their liaison feels as artificial and distant as Kross’s character. In is only when Ralph Fiennes steps into the picture that the male lead is given dramatic weight. Fienne’s single scene with Winslet is as poignant as it is heartbreaking and that forms the emotional fulcrum that gives this film its power.
The Reader is a film about guilt that pits law against morality and asks you to judge if the character on trial is right or wrong. It offers no easy answer and whilst films like this get labeled Oscar Bait films (which is partly accurate), this does not detract from the central strength of the film, as well as the moral questions that it asks. Winslet and Fiennes, both adept thespians, put in strong performances that makes this film worth seeing. Part romance, part historical eulogy and part moral dilemma, the Reader invites you to reassess your moral compass.
“Based on the German novel by Bernhard Schlink, The Reader is all about secrets and lies and the possibility that monstrous actions are not a function of something called Evil, but something messier, stranger and more common to all. This is chilling stuff, and The Reader works in the end because this idea clings to you like a bad dream.”- Galvin
kate winslet didn’t deserve the oscar for “the reader”, meryl streep did! it was a pity win and a shameful one at that because winslet campaigned so hard for it…her performance was spotty, uneven and dumb, pure emotionalism all the way in trying to win vindication for the abhorrent character hanna scmitz.as matt damon said, the academy often gets it wrong. by giving it to winslet instead of streep, the academy got it wrong big time!!!
Comment by alluhrey — April 3, 2009 @ 11:56 am
Streep’s performance in Doubt was definately better, and Streep should have won. But the general quality of Best Actress Nominations that year were weak in general. Winslet won a Best Supporting Actress for the SAME role at the Golden Globes and if she had been nominated for an Oscar Supporting Actress she would have been more deserving.
Having said that Winslet as an actress does deserve an Oscar, even if The Reader is far from her finest work. It is a case of a talented actor/actress who has been pass over many times but is long overdue to win an Oscar. Just like Al Pacino winning Best Actor in 1992 for Scent of a Woman (hardly his best film, but he had been nominated may times previously and it was his first Oscar Win). Winslet is an Oscar calibre actress, and her roles in previous films like HEAVENLY CREATURES, SENSE & SENSIBILITY, QUILLS, ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND and LITTLE CHILDREN were overlooked by the Academy. Although she did not deserve to win for the Reader, the generally weak crop of best actress nominees made her a decent second choice after Streep.
As for the Hanna Schmitz character, the film poses a provoking question. When Schmitz is asked by a judge why she did what she did, she replied : What would you have done?
Comment by nevinyrral — April 3, 2009 @ 1:49 pm