彩色泡泡糖

IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0976051/

Official Website: http://www.thereader-movie.com/

Cast: Kate Winslet (Hanna Schmitz), Ralph Fiennes (Michael Berg), David Kross (Young Michael Berg)

Hard to express my feelings toward this film very clearly, as there are so many elements mixed in. But in every way "The Reader" is definitely an amazing movie played by a bunch of brilliant actors & actresses, among whom I like Kate Winslet most.

The affair with Hanna Schmitz has so great impact on Michael Berg that throughout his life he's not able to get rid of her -- emotionally & physically. Shy, introverted, Michael is not the one to start the relationship with Hanna, or any relationship in later life. Even from the conversation Michael has with his daughter, we understand that he's not intimate with his family at all. And as the affair with Hanna is not supposed to be revealed to anyone, Michael's personality became even introverted later on.

And then is the complicated feeling Michael has towards Hanna -- first of all she's probably the first woman he ever loved in the world (of course apart from his family, but I doubt if he ever had that strong affection towards his family...), however she left without a word. Then when he saw her again, she was in the court as a defendant for the crimes during WWII. If only she indeed was the criminal, then perhaps Michael could just turn himself against her and leave the old memories behind. The fact is that Michael found out Hanna is totally illiterate and not possible to commit the crime, but he didn't dare to unveil the truth. So in the verdict Hanna was sent to jail for the rest of her life.

Till the end of this film, Michael was trapped by his own ambivalence and indecisiveness--meaning most of his life. Many years after Hanna's death was he only able to tell the story frankly to his daughter. In a certain perspective, this is a happy ending. Hanna finally made herself literate and Michael finally could face his beloved ones.