Germany more open to moral ambiguity of 'Reader'

Just read this article and I thought people at this board might find it interesting.. It seems this film is faring much better in Germany than US. Great news! It deserves much more recognition!

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By A.J. Goldmann, Special for USA TODAY
1 March, 2009

BERLIN — Kate Winslet took home Oscar gold a week ago for The Reader. But while Winslet may be the actress of the hour, American critics responded tepidly to her film, an adaptation of the best-selling novel by German author Bernard Schlink.
In Germany, where the movie just opened nationwide, The Reader is earning high praise as a penetrating exploration of the nature of German postwar guilt.

Schlink's novel was an unexpected sensation in Germany when it was published in 1995, and since then, it has been translated into nearly 40 languages.

One of the most damning American reviews of the film appeared in The New York Times: Critic Manohla Dargis said the film uses the Holocaust to make "the audience feel good about a historical catastrophe that grows fainter with each new tasteful interpolation."

Two other articles lambasted the film for its rosy presentation of the Holocaust. Ron Rosenblum contributed an essay in Slate titled "Don't Give an Oscar to The Reader," and filmmaker Rod Lurie wrote in the Huffington Post that the film "reinforces Holocaust deniers." These and other attacks inspired a joint statement from director Stephen Daldry, producer Harvey Weinstein and Elie Wiesel, issued days before the Oscar ceremony, condemning "fringe criticism."

Such a motion won't be necessary in Germany, where the reviews have been overwhelmingly positive. Much of that seems a result of the Vergangenheitsbewältigung— a cumbersome German word for "coming to terms with the past" — that has long been part of the country's discourse and makes the film's moral ambiguity more palatable here than in America.

At a news conference at the Berlin Film Festival, the filmmakers said the subject of the film is postwar Germany and not the Holocaust, a distinction that has been harder to stress in America.

Winslet spoke about the challenges of playing a former concentration camp guard and the responsibility she felt to make Hanna Schmitz into a human being. "I had to make her a woman who was capable of great love and affection and warmth," she said, "as well as (convey) the vulnerability and the shame."

This sentiment certainly reverberates in Germany, where the "banality of evil" argument — that the evils of the Holocaust were perpetrated not by psychopaths but by ordinary people — has been influential.

When the casting of Winslet was announced, the German media complained that the British actress wasn't ordinary enough; she was just too beautiful. Now critics are heaping praise on her performance, and on Daldry for creating an authentic portrait of the country in the aftermath of World War II.

Some reviews have responded to criticism the film has received in the USA. In the online edition of Die Welt, Hanns-Georg Rodek agreed with the decision not to include flashbacks in the scenes in which Hanna is on trial for crimes she committed in the camps. "It's not a film about the dead but rather the descendents of the killers, collaborators and onlookers," he said.

Schlink's novel is now considered a classic, but it remains somewhat controversial. The influential weekly magazine Der Spiegel commented that those who found the book objectionable for granting absolution to a Nazi murderer probably would think the same of the film, which is seen as more morally vague. The famed Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung agreed but found that the heightened ambiguity enhanced Winslet's performance.

These reactions suggest that The Reader is more important for Germany than for America. David Kross, the young German actor who appears alongside Winslet on screen, said at the news conference that he felt "a sense of responsibility for history" in appearing in the film. "I hope that many of my friends and people of my generation will have a chance to see this film and think about the issues it raises."

I know that this movie is not a love story. But I still have some wonders regarding Hanna and Michael’s love ‘cause it is so obsessive to me. You guys please help.

Did Hanna love Michael?

My though is “no”, if “yes” then the love must have come after she received those tapes.

I don’t think Hanna loved him at first. The meaning of all those love-making things is just she gave him what he wanted and taught him how to give her back, no love at all, just a “mutual benefit” thing. When answering this question of Michael, “Do you love me?”. The pity, thoughtful eyes of Hanna confessed some thing likes “What am I doing with this kid, Am I going too far?”

There may be something in her sad and puzzled face on Michael’s shoulder at the last time they were together but I did not think that is love though.

I can see that Hanna was deeply touched when she received the tapes but I did not know for sure that is love.

The only clue that change my though is that Hanna kept a picture of Michael on his high school graduation which can be seen in a deleted scene, but the director had cut it, so it is hard to say.

About Michael, I am definitely sure about his love. He proved what he had thought: “I’ll be the only angel you need. […] Heaven will take you back, look at you and say “Only one thing can make a soul complete and that thing is love” “. I am definitely sure that his love had completed Hanna ‘soul.


Why did she kill herself at the end?

I did not think that it was because she realized her guilty. I also read somewhere that after the talk with Michael, she knew that she would never have the only thing she needed for life – Michael’s forgiveness, she must have prepared for this after a long time of not receiving a visit, even a replies from Michael.

Is that because she realized how badly she had affect Michael’s life, she had turned an innocent, warm-hearted kid into a isolated, cold man with huge obsession of past pain, so she decided to get out of his life forever with a hope that Michael would have a rest in mind and live a more peaceful life? She did write that in her will: “Told Michael I said hello. Tell him to get on with his life?” The last sentence is cut but I thought it should be kept.

And I had another “stupid” question here, why did she write “hello” instead of “good bye”? Do you know why?

Auchel,
Like you I wrestled with the same questions for quite some time before finally arrived at some sort of a conclusion. Did you read the book? Since it is written in the form of an autobiography, readers understand exactly how Michael felt throughout his life.

The question of “Did Hanna love Michael?” and “why did she kill herself” are related, in my opinion. Here’s my take:

Hanna and Michael did love each other in the capacity they could at different junctures in their lives. When the affair started, Michael was in love as a fifteen year ago capable of in his first time. For Hanna, it was more like an affair of mutual benefit. She has a kid reading her literature, declares his devotion and provides her a companionship that had long eluded her. But let’s not forget that Hanna is illiterate. Her mental capacity might well be close that of a fifteen year old even though she is older in age and experience. As the affair continued Hanna cared deeper and deeper about Michael. This is evident by their last love-making, the pain and longing described in the book and vividly portrayed by Kate Winslet. I think it wasn’t until much later on did Hanna realize that Michael meant a lot more to her than she had allow herself to believe. She made great effort to get a picture of Michael’s graduation.

Michael’s love for Hanna eventually turned into an obsession. He is rather a weak man. The affair had a long lasting effect on his life. The thought of his “perfect first lover” could be at one time a monster is unbearable to him. The guilt of inaction on his part that could have saved Hanna consumed him until he finally found a means to communicate with her. It was an attempt to reconcile the past. He longer loves Hanna. But he lacks the courage and strength to let go of the past. Reading to her, sending her tapes are his means to be connected to his past yet not close enough to face reality.

But Hanna now realized how much she loves Michael. This is a man who gave her the greatest gift of her life – literacy. She needs him in her life. In their final meeting, she could tell that Michael did not want to be part of her life. He was cold and despondent. Then what is there for her outside of the prison? If she had a choice, she would’ve chosen prison and continued to receive tapes from Michael. She killed herself because her “kid” no longer wanted her. On that note, I’d like to add that things might not be as gloomy as she had believed. Michael made effort to arrange an apartment for her and showed up with flowers. In the movie it even showed how he carefully arranged a painting on the wall that reminds me of their cycling trip. He still cared for her. They would’ve had some kind of relationship, but nothing romantic.

Hope this helps. This story has so many layers, best film of 2008 in my book!