Director: Stephen Daldry
Year Released: 2008
Rating: 2.0
If this were a 50's B-movie instead of glossy Oscar Bait, the title could very well have been "I Was Seduced by an Illiterate Nazi Child Murderer!" A fifteen-year-old vomiter (David Kross as a lad, Ralph Fiennes as an adult) gets deflowered by a sullen Nazi Guard (Kate Winslet) who's so kinky she wants to be read to before the love making and who seems unconcerned with the fact that her 'stud' is a little underage - like the Debra Lafaves of the world, it's apparently "okay" when the dynamic is older woman/younger male instead of vice-versa. If the setup (and follow through) seems a little too pat that's because it is; likewise, the Winslet kid killer character is a one-dimensional figure all done up with makeup and with a permanent look of bewilderment (wouldn't you think the S.S. would have stricter qualifications, or was her being hired a Human Resources goof?). I like the idea of reading and education as a form of spiritual redemption, especially in a time where bookstores are a place to purchase coffee and DVDs, but then again, the literature-as-healer line is just more pandering to its (educated, liberal, middlebrow) audience.
