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The movie: The Reader

post #1 of 17
3/1/09 at 2:07am
Thread Starter 
Wow! I just saw this movie and thought it was powerful / gut wrenching on many levels. Anyone else see it?
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post #2 of 17
3/1/09 at 7:51am
I've read the book so I will have to watch the movie sometime.
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post #3 of 17
3/1/09 at 9:32am
Read the book as well and found the movie alright. Guess I'll have to watch it again sometime.

However, everytime I saw the "old" "kid" I had to think of him as the Tooth Fairy in "Red Dragon". Didn't serve his character in The Reader well
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post #4 of 17
3/1/09 at 12:18pm
I have not read the book but I thought the movie was quite good. I enjoyed it for its moral complexity but I felt like the ending was a bit cliche especially when compared with the rest of the movie.
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post #5 of 17
3/2/09 at 8:55pm
Loved the book, liked the movie. It was a little weird that almost everything was in English. I mean, we're all used to movies where they're in Berlin/Moscow/wherever but still speaking English, OK...but there was an extra level of weirdness here because of how important the books, etc., are. Also, the ending was weak. I definitely teared up once or twice, though.
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post #6 of 17
3/2/09 at 8:59pm
One of the best screen-adaptions I have seen. One of my favorite books - I think I have bought 4 copies now - I loan it to everyone I meet and don't always get them back.
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post #7 of 17
3/13/09 at 2:53pm
I enjoyed the movie and think a lot about the "love story" everybody talks about, but I have to disagree.

If it were a 32 year old man and a 15 year old girl, it would have been an abuse, in almost any country and culture.

Now, since it was the other way around, the viewers tolerate it.

In my opinion, she never loved him back in any way or any part of the movie. For her, it was pure egoism. She saw a vulnerable boy and got him just the same way she was the only picker that got week prisoners in the concentration camp.

During the movie, Michael never visits her and at the very end, he avoids both physical contact as well as emotional, or so to speak, he avoids any closeness in their last and only meeting since he was a little boy.

What do other readers think about this argument?
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post #8 of 17
3/13/09 at 3:38pm
i saw it. :shrug: the ending was bad. too much closure? also not a big fan of "advanced age" make-up in films------i never buy it. it is so distracting. just choose a different (older) actor/actress it was good date movie kind of if your date was a nazi dominatrix
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post #9 of 17
3/13/09 at 3:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by yarayara View Post
In my opinion, she never loved him back in any way or any part of the movie. For her, it was pure egoism. She saw a vulnerable boy and got him just the same way she was the only picker that got week prisoners in the concentration camp.
I think she lacked the maturity for real love at the start of the movie. She had affection for him, the way a child has affection for a puppy. Her illiteracy had made her an emotional cripple. It's not clear, but I would like to think that as she matured, she developed not-only an adult's sense of responsibility and guilt, she also developed an adult-style love for Michael. SPOILER ALERT
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post #10 of 17
3/13/09 at 5:16pm
It was a good movie. My gf became teary eyed towards the end, which annoyed me as I didn't find it very emotional. I would recommend people to see it, along with Revolutionary Road. Kate is a great actress and her Oscar is well deserved.
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post #11 of 17
6/6/09 at 7:35pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by JustinW View Post
I think she lacked the maturity for real love at the start of the movie. She had affection for him, the way a child has affection for a puppy. Her illiteracy had made her an emotional cripple. It's not clear, but I would like to think that as she matured, she developed not-only an adult's sense of responsibility and guilt, she also developed an adult-style love for Michael.

SPOILER ALERT

Quote:
I enjoyed the movie and think a lot about the "love story" everybody talks about, but I have to disagree.

If it were a 32 year old man and a 15 year old girl, it would have been an abuse, in almost any country and culture.

Now, since it was the other way around, the viewers tolerate it.

In my opinion, she never loved him back in any way or any part of the movie. For her, it was pure egoism. She saw a vulnerable boy and got him just the same way she was the only picker that got week prisoners in the concentration camp.

During the movie, Michael never visits her and at the very end, he avoids both physical contact as well as emotional, or so to speak, he avoids any closeness in their last and only meeting since he was a little boy.




I read it differently -

1. she had problems - she was iliterate, and had some serious emotional issues, from the very begining, when she met the boy. maybe as a result of her war, maybe those emotional issues were how she got to be a guard

2. the relationship wasn't good for the boy, and probrably crippled him. even though he pursued her, she shouldn't have slept with him, if she was a normal person. on top of that, I think that when they met, she didn't really have any type of social life, and that might not have changed until she went into prison

3. the way she acted in court made me feel that she had major issues, possibly she had some sort of biological mental defitiency.

4. it was interesting that she killed herself at the end of the prison sentence, not the begining.


5. he was an emotional cripple, in part due to his family, in part due to her. the idea that he spent much of his life taping books for her, but couldn't talk to her or answer her letters was interesting.

6. the really outstanding thing was how the movie can turn such a dispicable person into semi- sympathetic. very intersting.



anyway, I recomend seeing the movie.
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post #12 of 17
6/7/09 at 5:03am
I was dragged to see it when it was first released and was surprised how good it actually was, I'd have to say that for Winslet she was better in Revolutionary Road. I think she brings a sort of quirkiness and realness to her characters that make all of them no matter how flawed endearing to watch. Not sure she deserved the Oscar for that movie, but she definitely is one of the better actresses out there.
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post #13 of 17
6/7/09 at 2:31pm
I thought it was great. Agree on advanced aging makeup. Aside from that, the acting was superlative, and the story was really engaging.
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post #14 of 17
6/11/09 at 1:48am
holy shit. unbelievably sad. i was tearing up when she hanged herself,
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post #15 of 17
6/28/09 at 12:14am
SPOILER ALERT (in case anyone cares at this late date)

Rented this tonight (along with, interestingly enough given the mentions it's received in this thread, Revolutionary Road) at my GF's request. Half a bottle of pinot grigio later, I must say that it was much better than I had anticipated (I was planning on surfing the Interwebs while she watched it, but got pulled in).

Good acting all around, however I think Winslett's character should have been more ashamed of having let 300 people burn to death than the fact that she couldn't read. That said (and not having read the book), maybe that's ultimately why she hung herself.

The GF doesn't handle her wine as well as I do so we will be watching Revolutionary Road tomorrow.
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