| Description |
1 videodisc (124 min.) : sound, color ; 4 3/4 in. |
| System Details |
DVD; region 1, widescreen format, Dolby Digital 5.1 surround. |
| Note |
Based on the book "Der Vorleser" by Bernhard Schlink. |
| Cast |
Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes, David Kross, Lena Olin, Bruno Ganz. |
| Credits |
Directors of photography: Chris Menges, Roger Deakins ; production designer: Brigitte Broch ; editor: Claire Simpson ; music: Nico Muhly ; English novel translation by Carol Brown Janeway. |
| Note |
Originally produced as a motion picture in 2008. |
| Audience |
MPAA rating: Rated R for some scenes of sexuality and nudity. |
| Summary |
What have we learned (and what might we have forgotten) from history's bloody backwash? Guilt, love, and history are three skeins, woven together to create human beings or, alternately, human monsters. The question of wartime culpability undergirds the May-December romance in postwar Berlin between Hanna, a weary-looking, sexually rapacious streetcar ticket-taker and Michael, a young schoolboy whom she seduces, ravenously and to his great delight. One day, Hanna is gone, with no explanation, and Michael grows into a promising young law student. His class attends a trial, where the new Germany judges the past and, by default, the lovers as well. |
| Contents |
Michael -- Chance meeting -- Flowers for Hanna -- First encounter -- Lessons in love -- Misunderstanding -- Odyssey -- Cycling holiday -- Sophie and Hanna -- Julia -- Law school -- Trial -- Truth about the guards -- Everyone knew -- Stutthof concentration camp -- No answers -- Piece of information -- Verdict -- Return to reading -- Lady with the little dog -- Reunited -- Hanna's release -- Forgiveness -- End credits. |
| Note |
Special features : Deleted scenes (42 min.); "The Reader:" Adapting a timeless masterpiece [featurette] (23 min.); A conversation with David Kross & Stephen Daldry [featurette] (10 min.); Kate Winslet on the art of aging Hanna Schmitz [featurette] (13 min.); A new voice: a look at composer Nico Muhly [featurette] (4 min.); Coming to grips with the past: production designer Brigitte Broch [featurette] (8 min.); Theatrical trailer (3 min.). |
| Awards |
Winner, Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role: Kate Winslet, Academy Awards 2009. |
| Language |
In English or dubbed French with optional English or Spanish subtitles. |
| Note |
GMD: videorecording. |
| Subject |
Schlink, Bernhard -- Film adaptations.
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World War, 1939-1945 -- Atrocities -- Drama.
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Paramours -- Germany -- Drama.
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Man-woman relationships -- Germany -- Drama.
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Oral reading -- Drama.
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Law students -- Germany -- Drama.
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War crime trials -- Germany -- Drama.
|
| Genre/Form |
Thrillers (Motion pictures)
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Historical films.
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Feature films.
|
| Added Author |
Daldry, Stephen.
|
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Hare, David, 1947-
|
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Minghella, Anthony.
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Pollack, Sydney, 1934-2008.
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Gigliotti, Donna.
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Morris, Redmond.
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Winslet, Kate.
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Fiennes, Ralph.
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Kross, David, 1990-
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Olin, Lena.
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Ganz, Bruno.
|
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Schlink, Bernhard.
Vorleser. English.
|
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Weinstein Company.
|
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Mirage Enterprises (Firm)
|
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Neunte Babelsberg Film (Firm)
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Weinstein Company Home Entertainment (Firm)
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Genius Products, Inc.
|
| Standard No. |
796019819572 |
| Music No. |
1000397 Weinstein Company Home Entertainment |
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