The Reader relates the passionate affair between Michael Berg (Ralph Fiennes), a young German schoolboy, and Hanna Schmitz (Cate Winslet), a bus collector. As their relationship develops, Michael is found reading to Hanna on a daily basis until it becomes an almost prerequisite for more intimate intercourse. However, one afternoon Hanna disappears and Michael is forced to continue his life despite her mysterious disappearance. Flash forward a few years and Michael is now studying law and observing the Nuremberg Trials. During a particular trial, Berg is surprised to find none other than Hanna under scrutiny for her role as an SS officer at Auschwitz. Although she could have been cleared of guilt by simply testifying that she was illiterate, Hanna instead accepts a life sentence in jail. After much time Michael is finally moved to send recorded tapes of hundreds of novels to Schmitz, moving her to painstakingly refine her reading skills.
Stephen Daldry explores the human tendencies of shame and pride in this film. It is almost counterintuitive that Hanna would prefer to be labeled a mass murderer and accept a life sentence than to merely admit that she could not in fact read or write and therefore could not have served as the coordinator of such a killing. In addition, the film also sheds light on the morality (or lack thereof) of war time conditions. Throughout the trial scenes, Daldry questions whether or not Hanna and the other SS guards could truly be held accountable for their actions when there was in fact no other manner in which to execute their actions. In fact, they were instructed that it was their duty to their nation, nothing else.
