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The Reader Details

FULL SYNOPSIS

Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes star in The Hours director Stephen Daldry's haunting period drama concerning the relationship between a 15-year-old German boy and a mysterious woman twice his age, and the way that it grows doubly complex when the man reencounters the woman years later and discovers a shocking truth about her past. Based on author Bernhard Schlink's best-selling novel of the same name, the film opens on the character of Michael Berg (Ralph Fiennes) in middle age -- cold, remote, and emotionally withdrawn. It then moves back in time to 1950s Berlin, where ailing teenager Michael (now played by David Kross) has fallen ill with fever, and is discovered in the street by Hanna, a woman in her thirties. After Michael recovers, the two immediately lapse into a torrid affair and Michael falls prey to the confusion of his own burgeoning sexuality. Their liaisons are often marked by Hanna's request that Michael read to her (hence the title). Later, when Michael returns to Hanna's flat and finds it deserted, her absence becomes an emotional blow for which he is completely unprepared, and indeed, scarred for life. The film then moves forward in time by eight years. Michael -- now a law student -- walks into a courtroom and comes across Hanna, one of a series of Nazi prison guards being tried for murderous war crimes during World War II. As he watches her on the witness stand, memories of their past experiences together bring him to the point of realization concerning a startling, long-buried truth about Hanna -- and Michael knows that if he divulges this information, it could modify the prison sentence handed out and dramatically alter her fate. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

  • Release date:December 10, 2008

Awards

Awarded by
Nominee
Category
Year
Status
Screen Actors Guild Kate Winslet Best Supporting Actress 2008 Winner
London Film Critics Association Kate Winslet Best Actress 2008 Winner
Hollywood Foreign Press Association Kate Winslet Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture 2008 Winner
Las Vegas Film Critics Association Kate Winslet Best Actress 2008 Winner
San Diego Film Critics Association Kate Winslet Best Actress 2008 Winner
Vancouver Film Critics Kate Winslet Best Actress 2008 Winner
Broadcast Film Critics Association Kate Winslet Best Supporting Actress 2008 Winner
Alliance of Women Film Journalists Kate Winslet Best Actress 2008 Winner
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Kate Winslet Best Actress 2008 Winner
Chicago Film Critics Association Kate Winslet Best Supporting Actress 2008 Winner
London Film Critics Association Kate Winslet Best British Actress 2008 Nominee
British Academy of Film and Television Arts Kate Winslet Best Actress 2008 Nominee
Southeastern Film Critics Association Kate Winslet Best Actress 2008 Nominee
British Academy of Film and Television Arts Roger Deakins Best Cinematography 2008 Nominee
American Society of Cinematographers Roger Deakins Best Cinematographer 2008 Nominee
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Roger Deakins Best Cinematography 2008 Nominee
British Academy of Film and Television Arts Stephen Daldry Best Director 2008 Nominee
Hollywood Foreign Press Association Stephen Daldry Best Director 2008 Nominee
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Stephen Daldry Best Director 2008 Nominee
British Academy of Film and Television Arts Chris Menges Best Cinematography 2008 Nominee
American Society of Cinematographers Chris Menges Best Cinematographer 2008 Nominee
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Chris Menges Best Cinematography 2008 Nominee
London Film Critics Association David Hare Screenwriter of the Year 2008 Nominee
British Academy of Film and Television Arts David Hare Best Adapted Screenplay 2008 Nominee
Hollywood Foreign Press Association David Hare Best Screenplay 2008 Nominee
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences David Hare Best Adapted Screenplay 2008 Nominee
Las Vegas Film Critics Association David Kross Best Young Actor 2008 Winner
Broadcast Film Critics Association David Kross Best Young Actor/Actress 2008 Nominee
Chicago Film Critics Association David Kross Most Promising Performer 2008 Nominee

Cast

Kate Winslet
as Hanna Schmitz
Ralph Fiennes
as Michael Berg
David Kross
as Young Michael Berg
Bruno Ganz
as Professor Rohl
Matthias Habich
as Peter Berg
Susanne Lothar
as Carla Berg
Karoline Herfurth
as Marthe
Alexandra Maria Lara
as Young Ilana Mather
Volker Bruch
as Dieter
Burghart Klaußner
as Judge
Hannah Herzsprung
as Julia
Vijessna Ferkic
as Sophie
Lena Olin
as Rose Mather/Ilana Mather
Jeanette Hain
as Brigitte
Friederike Becht
as Angela Berg
Alissa Wilms
as Emily Berg
Frieder Venus
as Doctor
Moritz Grove
as Holger
Jürgen Tarrach
as Gerhard Bade

Crew

Stephen Daldry
Director
Donna Gigliotti
Producer
Redmond Morris
Producer
Anthony Minghella
Producer
Sydney Pollack
Producer
Bernhard Schlink
Book Author
David Hare
Screenwriter
Chris Menges
Cinematographer
Roger Deakins
Cinematographer
Nico Muhly
Musical Arrangement
Nico Muhly
Composer (Music Score)
Claire Simpson
Editor
Brigitte Broch
Production Designer
Christian M. Goldbeck
Supervising Art Director
Erwin Prib
Art Director
Stefan Hauck
Art Director
Anja Fromm
Art Director
Anu Schwartz
Art Director
Yesim Zolan
Art Director
Henning Molfenter
Co-producer
Christoph Fisser
Co-producer
Carl L. Woebcken
Co-producer
Harvey Weinstein
Executive Producer
Bob Weinstein
Executive Producer
Ann Roth
Costume Designer
Donna Maloney
Costume Designer
Jina Jay
Casting
Nico Muhly
Conductor
Jason Blum
Co-Executive Producer
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