FIRST LOOK: ‘The Reader’ explores Holocaust guilt

Two secrets lie hidden at the heart of the new Kate Winslet historical drama “The Reader,” which is scheduled to open in Atlanta on Christmas Day. The movie’s own trailer spoils one of them —- an increasingly common problem with trailers —- but the film works better the less you know going in.

Set in Germany over four decades, from 1956 to 1995, “The Reader” follows the relationship between Hanna (Winslet) and Michael, who’s played by Ralph Fiennes as an adult and German newcomer David Kross as a youth.

When they meet, he’s 15, she’s about 35, and they begin an all-consuming sexual affair. It’s easy to see Michael’s motivation —- he’s a virgin embarking on what he comes to see as the love of his life. Hanna’s motivation is harder to discern, but is connected to her secrets and how they have damaged her. Anyone can tell it won’t end well, but only readers of Bernhard Schlink’s international best-seller (which was also an Oprah pick) will be prepared for the particular trail of devastation that follows.

The obscure title becomes obvious once the movie gets under way. Hanna asks that young Michael read aloud to her, in addition to the other services he provides, and he does, everything from Homer to Chekhov. The intimacy of one lover reading aloud to another is beguiling, but as with much in “The Reader,” there are revelations yet to unfold.

From a recent preview screening (the AJC will run its review on Christmas Day), here’s some of what people will be talking about when they stagger out of “The Reader.”

1. The Golden Globes. “The Reader” was nominated for Best Drama, and deserves it. But how the heck was Winslet nominated for Best Supporting Actress when she has more screen time than anyone else in the movie?

2. The amount of sex and nudity. Winslet and young Kross are utterly fearless in exposing themselves, in every sense. It’s hard to think of another A-list actress in recent years doing so many nude scenes —- maybe a dozen or more —- in one movie. The sex is not used for titillation, though, but to make some difficult points about Hanna.

3. The nature of guilt, and how we deal with people who are guilty. Although it takes place after World War II, “The Reader” is very much about the Holocaust and how Germans behaved. There’s a lot more moral gray area here than in most film treatments of the Holocaust.

4. The Holocaust in movies. “Valkyrie,” Tom Cruise’s thriller about a plot to assassinate Hitler, also opens Christmas Day. The two movies are likely to be as different as can be, but “The Reader” is the one that’s going to remind us how large National Socialism still looms as an evil to be reckoned with.