The Reader Movie Trailers and Reviews

The Reader

Starring: Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes, Alexandra Maria Lara, Bruno Ganz, David Kross

Director: Stephen Daldry

Release Date: January 9th, 2009
Release Date: 2nd January, 2009

Synopsis: A haunting love story based on the best-selling novel of the same name, “The Reader” is set in postwar Germany and tells the story of a man whose life has been shaped by an illicit affair with a passionate, elusive older woman during his youth. Nearly a decade after his affair with an older woman came to a mysterious end, law student Michael Berg re-encounters his former lover as she defends herself in a war-crime trial.

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The Reader Movie Trailer

About the Movie

The Reader is a 2008 drama film based on the 1995 German novel of the same name by Bernhard Schlink. The film adaptation was written by David Hare and directed by Stephen Daldry. Ralph Fiennes and Kate Winslet star along with the young actor David Kross. It was the last film for producers Anthony Minghella and Sydney Pollack, both of whom died before it was released. Production began in Germany in September 2007, and the film opened in limited release on 10 December 2008.

It tells the story of Michael Berg, a German lawyer who as a teenager in the late 1950s had an affair with an older woman, Hanna Schmitz, who then disappeared only to resurface years later as one of the defendants in a war crimes trial stemming from her actions as a concentration camp guard late in the war. Michael realizes that Hanna is keeping a personal secret she believes is worse than her Nazi past – a secret which, if revealed, could help her at the trial.

Winslet and David Kross, who plays the young Michael, have received much praise for their performances. Winslet received praise and won a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress, BAFTA Award for Best Actress, Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress and the Academy Award for Best Actress at the 81st Academy Awards for her role in the film. The film has also been nominated for several other major awards.