History Literature / TheReader

* BrokenAesop:
** The film's take on Michael and Hanna's relationship is that it was borderline abusive and very wrong. Yet the scenes of the affair revel in {{Fanservice}}y shots of nude Kate Winslet, and the statutory rapist is presented as merely a complicated person, as opposed to a predatory adult taking advantage of a minor.

** The movie ties Hanna's complicity in the Holocaust to [[spoiler:her illiteracy, suggesting she didn't realise the horrors of what was going on until later in life when she learns to read.]] Except one doesn't require [[spoiler:reading skills]] to participate in mass murder, especially when she was a guard at a concentration camp. The movie even omitted a scene of said murder, so as not to make her seem too unsympathetic.

In 1996, they meet again, with him as a law student and she as a defendant on trial for war crimes. It turns out that she was a prison guard for the SS, and was present with several other female guards when they let 300 Jewish women and children perish in a church fire. It also turns out that she hides something important about herself, a factor which would clear her of full responsibility for the incident. Will he help her get off?

* TheBaroness: Hanna is a [[DeconstructedTrope deconstruction]].
* BathtubBonding: That's what kicks off Michael and Hanna's sexual journey.

* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:Hanna.]]

** The movie ties Hanna's complicity in the Holocaust to her illiteracy, suggesting she didn't realise the horrors of what was going on until later in life when she learns to read. Except one doesn't require reading skills to participate in mass murder, especially when she was a guard at a concentration camp. The movie even omitted a scene of said murder, so as not to make her seem too unsympathetic.

* NeverLearnedToRead: Hanna can't read. It's why she has Michael read things for her, under the guise of just enjoying being read to. She's so ashamed of her inability that she passes up job promotions and would rather go to prison than reveal it. There's a subtext that we're defined by our interaction with the written text, to the point that not being able to read means ''not existing''. In the book, she's practically invisible to Michael's family and classmates.

In 1996, they meet again, with him as a law student and she as a defendant on trial for war crimes. It turns out that she was a prison guard for the S.S., and was present with several other female guards when they let 300 Jewish women and children perish in a church fire. It also turns out that she hides something important about herself, a factor which would clear her of full responsibility for the incident. Will he help her get off?

In 1995 Germany, a lawyer named Michael Berg (Fiennes) meets his daughter Julia, who he hasn't seen for a while since he and her mother divorced. Before that, he recalls his sexual awakening as a teenager in 1958 when he began an affair with tram conductor Hanna Schmitz (Winslet). Their sexual liaison is highlighted by him reading to her literary classics, but the affair abruptly ends when she moves out of town.

In 1996, they meet again, with him as a law student and she as a defendant on trial for war crimes. It turns out that she was a prison guard for the S.S., and was present with several other female guards when they let 300 Jewish women inmates perish in a Church fire. It also turns out that she's hidden something important about herself, a factor which would clear her of full responsibility for the incident. Will he help her get off?

[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thereader_9833.jpg]]

A 1995 German novel by Bernhard Schlink, ''The Reader'', aka ''Der Vorleser'', was adapted for the screen in 2008 by Stephen Daldry and starred Creator/KateWinslet and Creator/RalphFiennes.

In 1995 Germany, a lawyer named Michael Berg meets his daughter, Julia, who he hasn't seen for a while since he and her mother divorced. Before that, he recalls his sexual awakening as a teenager in 1958 when he began an affair with tram conductor Hanna Schmitz. Their sexual liaison is highlighted by him reading to her literary classics, but the affair abruptly ends when she moves out of town.

In 1996, they meet again, with him as a law student and she as a defendant on trial for war crimes. She, as it turns out, was a prison guard for the S.S., and was present with several other female guards when they let 300 Jewish women perish in a Church fire. It also turns out that she hides something important about herself, a factor which would clear her of full responsibility for the incident. Will he help her get off?

'''''The Reader''''' was nominated for several Oscars and won Creator/KateWinslet a long-sought Best Actress award but also suffered some HypeBacklash from people who did not share the movie's perceived sympathy for an SS death camp guard. One critic retitled ''The Reader'' as [[http://www.slate.com/id/2209520/entry/2209521/ "Boohoo, I Bonked An Illiterate Nazi".]] There's also the issue of it being nominated for Best Picture over ''WesternAnimation/WallE'' and ''Film/TheDarkKnight'', both of which were more critically acclaimed than this one (this in particular may have spurred the Academy to expand the number of Best Picture nominees starting the following year).

!! ''The Reader'' features examples of:

In 1966, they meet again, with him as a law student and she as a defendant on trial for war crimes. She, as it turns out, was a prison guard for the S.S., and was present with several other female guards when they let 300 Jewish women perish in a Church fire. It also turns out that she hides something important about herself, a factor which would clear her of full responsibility for the incident. Will he help her get off?

* SpiritualSuccessor: Can be seen as a 2000s version of ''Film/TheNightPorter''; both films portray a doomed romance between a Nazi war criminal and their [[AgeGapRomance much younger lover]] in post-war Germany, although this film [[GenderSwap reverses the genders]].

* DefiniteArticleTitle: ''The Reader''.

->It doesn't matter what I feel. It doesn't matter what I think. The dead are still dead.

* {{Nazisploitation}}: [[https://youtu.be/LUCFIGzIk6k Film critic Mark Kermode]] points out this film is a high class OscarBait variation of this subgenre.