Brandon had been resisting The Reader for a while because he was afraid it would be too depressing, but I pushed for it because we love Kate Winslet and just because her character is a former Nazi guard doesn't mean we can't enjoy this portrayal of her affair with a 15 year old boy! Oh, maybe it's just me who enjoyed that part... At any rate, this movie goes far past that scandalous premise and spends much more time exploring how their brief relationship affects the boy's entire life. The bulk of the movie concerns her being on trial for her participation in the atrocities at Auschwitz and her deeper shame over being illiterate. Brandon was intrigued by the plot points that focus on her depiction of the German mentality during the war - duty and blind obedience. She was a guard and it was her duty to follow orders or she would be punished. This old mentality is placed in juxtaposition to the German mentality of self-loathing and shame in post-war Germany. Where were these people when the Nazis rose to power? Almost all of the country sat by and said nothing until the Nazis were defeated.
As always, Kate is incredible and we were also quite impressed by the actory who plays the young Michael and Ralph Fiennes who plays him as an adult. This certainly isn't an upper but it's really well done and was able to keep our attention despite spanning many years.
No comments:
Post a Comment