7.7

The Reader

2007, USA, Germany

• Actors: Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes, David Kross, Lena Olin, Bruno Ganz, Jeanette Hain, Susanne Lothar, Alissa Wilms, Florian Bartholomäi, Friederike Becht, Matthias Habich, Frieder Venus, Marie-Anne Fliegel, Hendrik Arnst, Rainer Sellien, Torsten Michaelis, Moritz Grove, Joachim Tomaschewsky, Barbara Philipp, Hans Hohlbein, Jürgen Tarrach, Kirsten Block, Vijessna Ferkic, Vanessa Berthold, Benjamin Trinks, Fritz Roth, Hannah Herzsprung, Jacqueline Macaulay, Volker Bruch, Karoline Herfurth
• Genre: Drama, Romance
• Director(s): Stephen Daldry
• Available languages:
  • English English.

THE READER opens in WWII Germany when teenager Michael Berg becomes ill and is helped home by Hanna, a stranger twice his age. Michael recovers from scarlet fever and seeks out Hanna to thank her. The two are quickly drawn into a passionate but secretive affair. Michael discovers that Hanna loves being read to and their physical relationship deepens. Hanna is enthralled as Michael reads to her from "The Odyssey," "Huck Finn" and "The Lady with the Little Dog." Despite their intense bond, Hanna mysteriously disappears one day and Michael is left confused and heartbroken. Eight years later, while Michael is a law student observing the Nazi war crime trials, he is stunned to find Hanna back in his life - this time as a defendant in the courtroom. As Hanna's past is revealed, Michael uncovers a deep secret that will impact both of their lives. THE READER is a story about truth and reconciliation, about how one generation comes to terms with the crimes of another.

  8.5

Das Leben der Anderen

2006, Germany

• Actors: Martina Gedeck, Ulrich Mühe, Sebastian Koch, Ulrich Tukur, Thomas Thieme, Hans-Uwe Bauer, Volkmar Kleinert, Matthias Brenner, Charly Hübner, Herbert Knaup, Bastian Trost, Marie Gruber, Volker Michalowski, Werner Daehn, Martin Brambach, Hubertus Hartmann, Thomas Arnold, Hinnerk Schönemann, Paul Faßnacht, Ludwig Blochberger, Paul Maximilian Schüller, Susanna Kraus, Gabi Fleming, Michael Gerber, Fabian von Klitzing, Harald Polzin, Sheri Hagen, Gitta Schweighöfer, Elja-Dusa Kedves, Hildegard Schroedter
• Genre: Drama, Thriller
• Director(s): Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
• Available languages:
  • German German.

In the early 1980s, Georg Dreyman (a successful dramatist) and his longtime companion Christa-Maria Sieland (a popular actress), were huge intellectual stars in (former) East Germany, although they secretly don't always toe the party line. One day, the Minister of Culture becomes interested in Christa, so the secret service agent Wiesler is instructed to observe and sound out the couple, but their life fascinates him more and more.