the reader

apparently kate winslet is shooting for an oscar with this one
it's had some rave reviews mostly centred around her performance
she plays the part of hannah a loner lady living in post-war germany
the film opens in 1958 with her working as a 36 year old tram conductor
she meets a sick 15 year old boy, helps, befriends, seduces and corrupts him
they have a torrid affair over summer before she mysteriously disappears
leaving him to suffer the loss of his first love that he never gets over
he then goes to university to study law and tries to move on
but 8 years after their time together he is witness to her in court
she had not disclosed it to him but she spent time as a prison guard
significantly at the auschwitz concentration camp so is on trial
unfortunately for her they need a scapegoat and her naivety sets her up
leading to her imprisonment for 20 years for her tacit support of the ss
this film is based on a very popular book in germany of the same name
somehow i think they would not rate this english film so highly
i'm sure it is true to the story but it's just so...english
it may be because of my interest in 'real' foreign films
but i find it unrealistic when language for one is substituted
so that all dialogue in the film is conducted in english
which is like buying mcdonalds and complaining it is not organic
but wait there's more - favourite bug-bear time again
in the film kate winslet's character ages about 30 years
going from an attractive middle aged woman pre prison time
and ending her sentence looking much older and wizened
an excellent job by the makeup people to depict the wasted years
but fairly blatantly a different technique is used for the main man
in the first part of the film one actor plays her teenage lover
then ralph feinnes steps in to play this person as an older man
which for me has the effect of further alienting me
particularly annoying in the scenes where they finally re-unite
for one i am looking at kate winslet and distracted by the makeup job
but then i find myself looking at ralph feinnes and similarly distracted
having to tell myself that he in fact is the same person seen earlier
that what he says and does is based on a character already developed
i find this a weakness and something i should not have to do
this flaw last seen in love in the time of cholera
same deal - woman - one actor and aged - bloke - too hard
which just adds to the impression of the point of this film
this is kate winslet's big shot at getting an academy award
she really lays it on admittedly quite impressively throughout
in the early scenes she strips bare and is a convincing seducer
then in the court scenes she plays the victim role just as well
leading to the final prison scenes with the unexpected twist
but apart from her performance i found this film unfulfilling
just too many shortcuts, inconsistencies and other confusion
e.g. a final scene set in new york which seemed excessive
presumably there to provide completeness as in the book
unfortunately for me i got into a mode of uneasiness
and so probably missed a lot of what this film was about
love, loyalty, absence, guilt, endurance all explored here
but just not coming through in such a natural way for me
as i write this i heard that kate did get her academy award
so cynically i would say mission accomplished...