Where did Kate Winslet come from? I mean the actress, not the person. Kate Winslet the person comes from the United Kingdom and a family with a background in the theatre. Kate Winslet the actress started life in a small film called Heavenly Creatures as an almost mindless teenager who commits a senseless and premeditated murder. Then she appeared in Titanic and her on-screen persona became larger than life.
Her wide range of roles had already led to five Oscar nominations, and now a sixth for The Reader. However, this still does not prepare one for what she does in this movie. All of what she has learned of her craft and all of what she has learned as a person appears on her face in every frame. Everything she has to give is exposed, physically and emotionally, and one can only wonder at the courage that such a full commitment takes.
The Reader is probably the most moving holocaust story I’ve ever heard or seen. The scope and range of human experience covered is astonishing. A 15-year old boy, raised in post-war Germany, has an affair with an older woman who does him a kindness to begin with and then the relationship becomes movingly physical. Later it is revealed that Hanna Schmitz (the Winslet character) committed atrocities during the second world war, but there was a secret reason that mitigated some of her guilt.
Meanwhile the young boy (acted by David Kross) suffers a crisis of conscience for not trying to help his former lover when she is put on trial and the same young boy as a man (Ralph Fiennes) lives a life of crippling emotional vacuity, unable to connect with his ex-wife, lovers and his daughter. All of the principal players are terrific, with Kross showing exceptional range as the young man and Fiennes striking every nuance of doubt and failure as the older man. Lena Olin in a critical role at the end of the movie also brings an emotional gravitas that fleshes out the wide-ranging implications of all that has previously transpired.
The themes covered include shame, inter-generational love, a family divided, an inability to connect emotionally and the whole question of blame as a result of inaction. Like all great stories, there is some measure of redemption, although it must be earned at the cost of dying.
It is apparent that many people do horrible acts for mundane or self-serving or simply morally ambiguous or outrageous reasons. However, in a limited number of circumstances, an explanation can be found in events beyond the normal.
The final issue that is raised by the movie is The Big One. How many of us can truly forgive when a horrible act has been perpetrated on ourselves or one of our loved ones? The salvation of mankind may depend on the answer. A quick look at the geopolitical map shows that too many factions around the world find themselves unable to take this step.
The cycle must be broken. But maybe it is not in mankind’s nature to be able to do so. If not, then we truly are destined to keep repeating ourselves and one has to be discouraged about our prospects as a species.
But after experiencing the moving story that is The Reader and seeing the small steps that are taken towards understanding under even the worst of circumstances, one leaves the cinema feeling modestly hopeful.
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