The Reader Director Stephen Daldry on Sex Scenes, Rudin vs. Weinstein, and Kavalier & Clay
Stephen Daldry has made only two feature films, but he's overseen four Oscar-nominated performances and netted himself two Academy Award nominations for Best Director to boot. His third movie, The Reader, seems to stand a solid chance of continuing those trends. Based on Bernhard Schlink's acclaimed novel, the film centers on a 15-year-old, Michael Berg (David Kross), who in post–World War II Germany enters into a sexual relationship with a woman twice his age, Hanna Schmitz, played by the smokin' Kat

The Reader: "Emotionally Constipated & Unable To Seriously Address The Holocaust" [Critical Mass]
The Reader, a film based on the semi-autobiographical novel by Bernhard Schlink, takes place in a post-war Germany and centers around Hanna Schmitz (Kate Winslet), an illiterate woman who sleeps with a teenage boy (David Kross) whom she asks to read to her before and after sex. Eventually, the boy grows up and encounters Hanna again when she is on trial for war crimes. The subject matter and plot shift from a story of sexual awakening to a courtroom drama is tiring to some critics, although they agree that

EXCLUSIVE: Director Stephen Daldry on Sex, Moguls and Surviving 'The Reader' [Five Questions]
The culmination of our dedicated coverage of The Reader— from Rudin/Weinstein blow-ups to Oscar prognoses to its sexual audacity— arrived this weekend when director Stephen Daldry phoned Defamer HQ. "Sorry, I overslept," he said in his dignified brogue — a forgivable lapse under the circumstances, with his Kate Winslet film following his Billy Elliot stage adaptation by mere weeks on his late-'08 calendar. Nevertheless, we got him properly caffeinated and settled in for a rousing installme

Peter, Paul & Mary, Peter Paul Rubens, & Paul Reubens
The ReaderRead It And Possibly WeepTrailers & Mo | Official WebsiteThe Reader's not the easiest thing to digest (get it, Reader's Digest? no, we mean are you a subscriber to Reader's Digest? get it? actually you shouldn't since there's plenty of other reading material more worthy of thumbing through whilst yer takin a dump). The Reader delves into the touchy topic of next generation Germans dealing with the guilt associated with the monstrosity that the last generation created, a little thing called t

Oscar, Oscar! The Reader’s Winslet Left Me Gasping
The ReaderRunning time 123 minutes Written by David Hare Directed by Stephen Daldry Starring Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes, Lena Olin, Bruno Ganz, David Kross The turkey’s in the soup, the retailers are praying for a Merry Christmas, and the year-end movie countdown is in full swing. I’ve still got a few items on my screening list, but I will go out on a limb right now and predict I will see nothing greater, more haunting, wrenching or profound, than The Reader. I’m preparing you in advance. One viewing

Interview: The Reader Director Stephen Daldry
Stephen Daldry is the only director in history to get a Best Director nomination for his first two films. The guy made such a splash with Billy Elliott and The Hours that you can't blame him for taking a break from the screen. But now he's back with The Reader, a drama based on Bernhard Schlink's novel about a love affair between a teenage boy and an older woman in post-war Germany. Much more than just a hot love story, The Reader deals with the many different levels of guilt felt by Germans aft

No Oscar glory for 'The Reader'?
When the always indomitable Scott Rudin abruptly took his name off Stephen Daldry's "The Reader" in early October after roughly 15 rounds of heavyweight tussling with Harvey Weinstein (who is releasing the movie next week), everyone assumed the worst. If Rudin were willing to abandon ship--and leave Daldry, one of his favorite filmmakers, behind, even after Weinstein had agreed to give Daldry more money so he could edit the film around the clock as he hurried it to the finish line--then the film m

Kate Winslet 'More Suited' For Reader Role Than Nicole Kidman, Says Screenwriter
Wednesday night, at the much buzzed about premiere of The Reader, we asked Kate Winslet what it had been like to replace Nicole Kidman in the film. (Ms. Kidman departed in January due to her pregnancy.)   "Often actors jump in an out of each others parts, you know?" Ms. Winslet was wearing a brown off-the-shoulder dress with brown shoes and dark lipstick, and had her hair curled slightly off the shoulder. "You guys don't tend to hear about that stuff. I did have very early discussions wit

Sex and the SS
The ReaderRunning time 123 minutesWritten by David HareDirected by Stephen DaldryStarring Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes, Lena Olin, Bruno Ganz, David Kross Stephen Daldry’s The Reader, from a screenplay by David Hare, based on the semi-autobiographical novel The Reader, by Bernhard Schlink, has lost much of the emotional power of the book, which was published in 1995, translated into 40 other languages and became the first German novel to top the New York Times’ best-seller list. The problem with the film

Review: Holocaust too messy for the sterile ‘Reader’
Alonso DuraldeFilm criticI’ve generally been a defender of the films of Stephen Daldry, but seeing “The Reader” made me understand why some people hated his previous movie, “The Hours.” That film, they said, was fussy and airless, tamping down truth and humanity in favor of the brand of dry “culture” that lures certain segments of the moviegoing public with the promise of a tastefully prim Sunday matinee. That’s certainly how “The Reader” played for me; watching Daldry try t

The Reader Review
“Who would have guessed that a book only 218 pages long could stir up so many emotions!” That quote, which graces the press notes for Stephen Daldry’s The Reader, is attributed to Oprah Winfrey, who selected the novel on which the film is based for her book club. As always, Oprah means no harm, but her influence makes such off-handed insipidity potentially dangerous. But relax –– in this case, she’s just reflecting the party line of the marketable middlebrow: Art mus

Review: 'The Reader'
The film of Bernhard Schlink's bestselling novel succeeds solely due to Kate Winslet's performance. By KENNETH TURAN, Movie Critic December 11, 2008 It is Kate Winslet's face and Kate Winslet's face alone that looks out from the cover of the new "now a major motion picture" paperback edition of Bernhard Schlink's exceptional novel, "The Reader," and that's as it should be.

HONOR ROLL '08 | "He Didn't Bail, That's a Little Bit Unfair": "The Reader" Director Stephen Daldry
by Erica Abeel (December 9, 2008) EDITOR'S NOTE: This is part of a daily December series that will feature new or previously published interviews and profiles of some of the year's best filmmakers, writers, actors and actresses. Though literary works are catnip to filmmakers, it's always dicey to reinvent one for the screen. Witness "Revolutionary Road," which will send the unwary viewer reaching for the Welbutrin, despite the best efforts of Kate and Leo, reunited for first time since the boat went down

Exclusive: Stephen Daldry on Directing The Reader
Eight years ago, director Stephen Daldry worked with playwright David Hare to adapt Chris Cunningham's novel The Hours into a film honored with nine Oscar nominations, including Nicole Kidman winning an Oscar for her performance as writer Virginia Woolf. The duo have reunited to adapt Bernard Schlink's bestselling book The Reader as their latest film, once again tackling difficult subject matter with a semi-autobiographical story set in post-WWII Germany involving a teen's first sexual experience with an ol

The Reader: Film Review
 Doubt Wendy and Lucy The Reader Adam Resurrected Timecrimes What Doesn't Kill You Dark Streets Nothing Like the Holidays Frost/Nixon Punisher: War Zone  more    The sheer size of the Toronto festival can be intimidating. >>> Turkey Business. >>> Check out our preview section for a list of upcoming films. >>>     Direct

Scott Rudin Pulls Name off The Reader
Academy Award winning producer Scott Rudin has pulled his name off The Reader, the upcoming Stephen Daldry (The Hours) drama starring Kate Winslet that’s set to be released December 12. The announcement comes after Rudin and Harvey Weinstein had a very long and bruising battle over the release date. Variety reports that Weinstein and Rudin have never gotten along. They clashed over Daldry’s 2002 The Hours and again over the post-production schedule of The Reader. Rudin, the winner of the best pict

Reader is Rudin-Less
There's nothing much to add to Patrick Goldstein's story (posted late yesterday afternoon) about powerhouse producer Scott Rudin walking away from The Reader (Weinstein Co., 12.12), the David Hare-scripted WWII drama with Kate Winslet. I know that Rudin and Reader director Stephen Daldry are allies and amigos, having worked together on The Hours (which was also written by Hare). And that Daldry is pretty much on his own in the rush to finish The Reader in time for the early December release date

Film: Translating Love and the Unspeakable
The Germans have a word for it: Vergangenheitsbewaltigung — more or less, “coming to terms with the past.” It’s not an easy concept to translate into English; even less so, perhaps, into the American idiom. Skip to next paragraph Related Trailer: 'The Reader' Filmography: Stephen Daldry

Teenagers Fuck Redux: Is 'The Reader' the New 'Porky's'? [Burning Questions]
The Teenagers Fuck phenomenon has seen some compelling discussion this week, a desperately needed change from the fanged chastity that so overwhelmed us during the build-up to Twilight's tween windfall last month. And while a new essay in The Guardian suggests young men in particular are a more sophisticated lot since the days of Porky's, another critic of one upcoming film has a different phrase for that: Child pornography. Particularly as seen in The Reader, which Huffington Post contributor Thelma

Will filmgoers rally around World War II movies?
IT'S THE one war in the last 60 years that doesn't divide politicians, pundits and voters. But can World War II bring moviegoers together? Starting on Friday and ending at Christmas, at least half a dozen dramas whose plots connect with World War II are scheduled to arrive in theaters, all hoping to perform better than the crop of recent war films looking at the modern Middle Eastern conflict. The new movies -- Friday's Spike Lee-directed "Miracle at St. Anna," Nov. 7's concentration camp story "Th

BOOKS TO MOVIES: Movie Trailer for 'The Reader' is up!
A new trailer is up for The Reader (http://www.thereader-movie.com/), which is set to be in limited release come December 10, 2008. It stars Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes with upcoming German actor David Kross - who also starred alongside fellow German actor Daniel Brühl in Krabat (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0772181/). The Reader is based on the German novel (http://www.amazon.com/The-Reader/dp/B000FC1K66/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8 s=books qi

Kate Winslet Premieres “The Reader” in NYC
Showing off her fine figure in a snug black cleavage-baring ensemble, Kate Winslet attended the premiere of “The Reader” at the Ziegfeld Theater in New York City on Wednesday night (December 3). The 33-year-old English actress was joined for the evening’s festivities by co-stars Ralph Fiennes and David Kross, as well as director Stephen Daldry.

Exclusive: 'The Reader' Poster Premiere!
Cinematical has just received this exclusive final poster for The Reader, starring Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes. Directed by Stephen Daldry (The Hours) and based on Bernhard Schlink's bestselling novel, The Reader is one of those talked-about flicks currently circling the Oscar pool trying to decide when it should jump in. From the synopsis: THE READER opens in post-WWII Germany when teenager Michael Berg becomes ill and is helped home by Hanna, a stranger twice his age. Michael recovers from scarlet f

Kate Winslet Debuts ‘Reader’ in NY
ET takes you to the New York premiere of the new post-World War II drama ‘The Reader,’ starring Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes. Also on hand for the event at the famed Ziegfeld Theater were co-stars Lena Olin and David Kross and director Stephen Daldry. Hear Kate talk about what it was like working with heartthrob Ralph and doing [...]

Kate Winslet Premieres 'The Reader'& Talks Leo Sex Scenes
British actress Kate Winslet showed up looking gorgeous and unretouched in a charcoal, figure-hugging dress at the premiere of her new film The Reader.