Pretty In Schlink | Kate Winslet enjoys a little postcoital literature with David Kross in The Reader.
Directed by Stephen Daldry. Starring Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes, David Kross. Opens Thu, Dec 25.
***1/2
Somewhere in the back of my mind, 15 minutes into ...
Oh no. This is going to be one of those “kid seduced by older woman and consequently scarred for life” movies. How old is that boy supposed to be? More importantly, how old is that dude in real life? He has gotta be at least 18 ’cause I think you could get charged with something for getting a kid to do that, even if he’s acting. I’m uncomfortable. Is Kate Winslet the “bad guy”? I can’t believe they used the old “You’re filthy. Take off your clothes, I’ll wash them while you have a bath” shtick. What’s the difference between porn and an Oscar-nominated movie? Probably the soundtrack. Oh, he’s reading to her, that’s a nice break from the sex.
Based on a novel by Bernhard Schlink, so it went for the first half hour. In the summer of 1958, 15-year-old Michael Berg (played by David Kross with a subtlety beyond his years) gets a sexual education thanks to Hanna Schmitz (Kate Winslet), a proud and fiery 38-year-old.
After we get past this seemingly directionless romance (or corruption of a minor, if you prefer), and after Hanna splits with nary a Dear John letter, we have a slightly more mature Michael attending law school. Older and — shocker — scarred by his underage interlude, he finds himself attending the war-crimes trial of six female internment camp guards. While his classmates are ready to hang the lot, Michael is wracked with ambivalence because one of the guards is his ex-lover, Hanna.
Winslet does a spectacular job as the accused, creating the sympathy and ambiguity the story requires. Her eyes display a wide-eyed naïveté, her mouth, sharp dedication to the task she was charged with and, in total, her face is consistently confused by the proceedings. To Hanna, being a guard was a job and she was simply executing her duties to the best of her abilities. She begs of the tribunal, “Should I have not applied for the position?”
Michael’s professor then asks his own question: are legality and morality the same thing? In Hitler’s Germany, clearly not. But ask of the film what is moral and things aren’t as crystal.
Is forgiveness possible? Can we live to survive our pasts? Was Hanna and Michael’s relationship a mistake?
Certain movies linger at the nape of your neck, while others linger in your heart — haunts your head. Michael makes certain decisions in the film out of fear his affair will be found out, out of a desire to avoid confronting Hanna, and out of respect for Hanna’s sinful sense of pride. In the end you’ll wonder if any of it was necessary, just, or kind.
These kinds of bleak movies are intimidating. We abandon how certain films make us feel and the questions they raise, simply because we can’t think of the answers. I don’t believe is sure of its own conclusions, so letting the marvelous acting wash over you and simply reacting is as good a response as any.
Oh, storytime is over! Back to the sex....
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