The Reader (film) Study Questions

This film opens in the present day (Berlin 1995) before it flashes back to 1958. Why might the film do this, whereas the novel begins with the account of Michael’s illness at 15. In general, consider the differences between the way that the novel and film shift between past and present (and the degree to which were are conscious that what we are reading or watching is a retrospective account). Moreover, what is the significance of losing the adult narrator Michael as the source for the story we are reading?

How does Hanna’s character come across in the early scenes. Does the film provide any indication as to why she might enter into a relationship with Michael? In addition, as you watch the episodes with Michael and Hanna, consider whether Hanna’s affair with a fifteen-year-old boy seems more or less offensive in the film compared to the novel.

As the affair begins, we see Michael’s dissimulation with his family (despite his mother’s assertion that he never lies). What significance might this have for Michael as a narrator, storyteller?

What does Michael’s teacher at school say about Western literature (this is hard to pick up, but it’s an important comment--see the script link above)?

Comment on Hanna’s words and actions during their first fight. Does she seem to be aware of the impact her behavior might have on a fifteen-year-old who loves her? How, in very specific terms, is she shown to respond to his questions (did you mean it? do you love me?)?

What is the significance of the montage-like section juxtaposing Michael reading to Hanna and Michael and Hanna having sex?

In their final scene together, Hanna slaps Michael. Compare this to the episode in the novel on page 55. Also, what might be the significance of Hanna’s final bathing of Michael?

What are the broader implications of the following dialogue:
Michael: “It’s always me that has to apologize.” Hanna: “No one has to apologize.”

What scene takes place between the part of the film in which Michael is 15-16 (i.e., with Hanna) and the part when he is a law student?

Compare the film’s portrayal of Michael’s reaction to seeing Hanna in court to the novel’s presentation, where Michael says, “… I felt nothing. Nothing at all” (95).

What specific editing and photographic techniques are used in the scene in which the Holocaust survivor mother testifies about what happened at the church? Also, is there a difference between watching the mother testify and reading her testimony in the novel?

Comment on the cinematography during Michael’s trip to the camp. Also discuss the lack of any reflection on Michael’s part about visiting the camp (compare this with Part 2, chapters 14 and 15 in the novel). How is the end of this scene connected visually and aurally with what immediately follows (in the courtroom)?

Does the testimony Hanna gives in the film make her seem more or less guilty than in the novel? Why?

When Michael asks his professor about his dilemma (his realization of Hanna’s illiteracy), what advice does the professor offer? Also, why do you think the film has this discussion, related to ethics and responsibility, take place between Michael and his professor and not between Michael and his father, as in the novel?

Discuss the significance of the film’s change of sequence of these scenes, compared with the novel (in the novel, Michael’s trip to, and comments about, the camp comes after Hanna’s testimony and his conversation with his father).

What techniques are used to capture Michael’s recording of and Hanna’s listening to the tapes?

Describe the scene in which Hanna first opens a book in jail. What emotions does she seem to be feeling?
Does this help us understand her decisions? Also, compare this with Michael's comments in the novel about her illiteracy.

Is the meeting in prison between Hanna and Michael more or less consistent with the novel?

Discuss the irony of Hanna's suicide and the cinematography of this particular scene.

Why do you think that the director (or the producers) chose to use the same actor (Lena Olin) to portray the mother (in the earlier courtroom scenes) and the daughter (in the later scene)? How is the daughter portrayed, in both appearance and behavior, in this later scene?

Discuss two important changes in the film version of this scene: the omission of the daughter’s judgment of Hanna upon learning about her affair with Michael and the addition of her commentary about the the camps.

What do we lose, compared to the novel, by the film ending with Michael starting to tell his daughter about Hanna?

To what extent does the film address the larger social context in Germany in which Hanna’s trial takes place (the conflict between the generations and the difficulties of coming to terms with the Nazi past)?

Does the film adequately address questions of guilt and responsibility for perpetrators, bystanders, or descendants?

Although the film is a mostly faithful attempt to capture the novel, and no film can include all aspects of a novel in its adaptation, several specific changes, in addition to those mentioned in previous questions, have been made. Comment on the possible significance of the following changes:

• Michael suffers from scarlet fever, not hepatitis;

• The city of Michael’s youth is changed from Heidelberg to Neustadt;

• Michael has virtually no contact with his father after childhood and does not even attend his funeral;

• In their final fight, Hanna merely slaps Michael rather than striking viciously him with a leather belt;

• The books Michael reads to Hanna are, from what we hear and see, somewhat less classical and less German (Huck Finn, Lady Chatterly, Tin Tin);

• Hanna appears to look at Michael when she is sentenced, while the novel stresses the fact that Hanna does not look at him (see Part 2, chapter 17);

• Hanna’s time in prison is extended from 18 to well over 20 years, until 1988;

• There is no sense of the year that passes in the novel between the warden’s first contact with Michael and his visit to see Hanna;

• There is no clear indication of Hanna reading Holocaust literature in prison.