In postwar Germany, a teenager (David Kross) has a love affair with an older woman (Kate Winslet) who is... (Learn more)
Starring: Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes, Karoline Herfurth (View All)
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Starring: Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes, Karoline Herfurth
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name, the film opens on the character of Michael Berg (Ralph Fiennes) in middle age -- cold, remote, and emotionally withdrawn.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, All Movie Guide
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US Release Date
12/10/08
MPAA Rating
Rated R for some scenes of sexuality and nudity.
Running Time
123 mins.
Locations
- Berlin, Germany
Language
- English
Box Office Total
$34,180,954
Awards
- Winner of the Best Supporting Actress award at the 2008 Broadcast Film Critics Association [Fe Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Actress award at the 2008 British Academy of Film and Television Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Picture award at the 2008 Phoenix Film Critics Association [Fest Awards.
- Winner of the Best Depiction of Nudity or Sexuality award at the 2008 Journalists, Alliance of Women Film [F Awards.
- Winner of the Best Actress award at the 2008 Vancouver Film Critics [Festival/Award Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Picture - Drama award at the 2008 Hollywood Foreign Press Association [F Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Picture award at the 2008 Association, Southeastern Film Critics Awards.
- Winner of the Best Young Actor award at the 2008 Las Vegas Film Critics Association [Fe Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Picture award at the 2008 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Director award at the 2008 Hollywood Foreign Press Association [F Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Screenplay award at the 2008 Hollywood Foreign Press Association [F Awards.
- Nominated for a Most Promising Performer award at the 2008 Chicago Film Critics Association [Fest Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Director award at the 2008 British Academy of Film and Television Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Actress award at the 2008 Association, Southeastern Film Critics Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Cinematography award at the 2008 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie Awards.
- Winner of the Best Actress award at the 2008 London Film Critics Association [Festi Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Picture award at the 2008 Broadcast Film Critics Association [Fe Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Cinematographer award at the 2008 American Society of Cinematographers [ Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Picture award at the 2008 British Academy of Film and Television Awards.
- Nominated for a Screenwriter of the Year award at the 2008 London Film Critics Association [Festi Awards.
- Winner of the Best Actress award at the 2008 Journalists, Alliance of Women Film [F Awards.
- Winner of the Best Actress award at the 2008 Las Vegas Film Critics Association [Fe Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Director award at the 2008 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Adapted Screenplay award at the 2008 British Academy of Film and Television Awards.
- Nominated for a Best British Actress award at the 2008 London Film Critics Association [Festi Awards.
- Winner of the Best Actress award at the 2008 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie Awards.
- Winner of the Best Supporting Actress award at the 2008 Chicago Film Critics Association [Fest Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Young Actor/Actress award at the 2008 Broadcast Film Critics Association [Fe Awards.
- Winner of the Best Actress award at the 2008 San Diego Film Critics Association [Fe Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Adapted Screenplay award at the 2008 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Cinematography award at the 2008 British Academy of Film and Television Awards.
- Winner of the Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Moti award at the 2008 Hollywood Foreign Press Association [F Awards.
- Winner of the Best Supporting Actress award at the 2008 Screen Actors Guild [Festival/Award] Awards.
Distributor
- The Weinstein Company
