It is undeniable that the role played by Kate Winslet spans decades. The inner desires, contradictions, confusion, burdens, loneliness and despair of the characters are all like shadows. However, compared with the original novel, the performance of the film has not made a breakthrough, except that the original is less heavy, and the original serious and shocking ethical dilemma about "justice" has been diluted, and an emotional ethical confusion has been diluted. heavy subject.
In the novel, the love between Hannah and Michelle was originally an inadvertent love affair. Although there is an age difference, it is not intolerable. In Michelle's words: "It's not breasts, butts and thighs that seduce people. , but a force that draws you into her inner world and forgets the outer world." In the film, however, all that is seen is Kate Winslet's body (is it my low personality and won't appreciate it? Or the director? Is there a consideration at the box office? I think, each reader should have his own conclusion), there is no power to "attract you into her inner world". Kate Winslet once again almost became "off the star", which makes Hannah's ethical dilemma about the Nazi massacre in the second half of the novel significantly diluted, and the difference in understanding of the massacre between the two generations has become The emotional entanglement between the two, and how Michelle faced the mistakes she made when she was a madman. As Rochester expressed his heart to Jane Eyre - "There is a young man who has been spoiled since he was a child, and he made a mistake, not a sin". In fact, the audience is not Jane Eyre, and there is no reason for anyone to forgive or forgive anyone. In such a wrong era and under such a wrong premise, there is no correct conclusion.
Interestingly, the protagonist Hannah shares the same name as the famous philosopher Hannah Arendt, and the ethical dilemma of justice that Eichmann encountered when he was in Jerusalem, written by Arendt, is what this novel wants to show. The main point, you must know, Arendt's teacher and lover Heidegger is also an accomplice of the Nazis. Hannah said in court, "If the order is not followed, what does the judge think I should do?" making everyone bow their heads. This ethical dilemma casts a deep shadow on the minds of a generation of Germans, and even the whole world. Michelle believes that Hannah was illiterate and ashamed, so she resigned when the conductor was about to be promoted to the rank of director, and then gave up when she was offered the position of foreman at Siemens, and instead became an SS. And reading, will make it open-minded and reborn. So, he read to Hannah and recorded a tape while Hannah was serving his sentence, hoping to find peace of mind and emotional peace from the acquisition of knowledge. However, this is only the author's wish after all. During World War II, most of the German officers were professors of philosophy. They did not lack knowledge, nor did they lack the courage and wisdom to seek truth. If they have one more lesson to make, it should be compassion and forgiveness, and the values of enjoying life rather than risking it. After World War II, the British and Americans believed that the Germans were more rational than experience, more thinking than common sense. For Germans, this reason may be too simple, but it is indeed the most important aspect.
Therefore, the most unbearable thing for me is the ending of the movie. Michelle brought her daughter to Hannah's cemetery and talked about her incestuous love when she was young. It is really a standard "snake foot". Should the spiritual burden that has already been carried by two generations be passed on? Or should future generations not forget history and need to know the full picture of history? Or does the daughter have to study hard to avoid the mistakes of the illiterate Hannah? Or to show off his love history to his daughter, and why he divorced? Either way, the Hollywood-esque approach dilutes the novel's original, deep themes, and fails to draw a connection between the ethical dilemma of the sexes and the ethical dilemma of social justice, too frivolous. Let me ask you a question: Is it a coincidence or inevitable that Hannah changed from a conductor to a murder accomplice?
Thomas Mann once said that, indeed, German literature is too serious and profound to be good-looking. If you are looking for good novels, please read Zweig. Zweig can be regarded as a rare person who can see the weakness of human nature in personal emotional life, or reflect the darkness of society through the split of his personality. Today, Benhard Schlink's "The Reader" can be said to be out of blue. In the emotional story of a 15-year-old boy and a 36-year-old female conductor, it lightly reflects the complex mood of the post-World War II generation of Germans looking at their own history. It's not surprising that Hollywood directors understand this way. Since the death of New Wave masters such as Kieslowski, it is difficult for movies to present the profound themes of novels.
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