Back in the good old days of A-level German in Chelmsford, I read a book, in German, called Der Vorleser. It was my set text for the second year of my studies, and incidentally, on the reading list for university.
Flash forward 6 years and find me, sitting in a West End cinema (Cineworld Haymarket in case you wondered) watching the film adaptation of this book, The Reader starring Ralph Fiennes*, Kate Winslet and the new talent, David Kross.
David Kross is a German actor who, to quote the New York Times, had to learn English aged 15 for the part, all the while with Kate Winslet writhing naked on top of him. He puts in a great performance as the young hero.
As has been alluded to, Kate Winslet is naked for a good chunk of the film (at least the first hour) but really shines as she portrays her character over the course of 30 years or so.
"Vergangenheitsbewältigung", for those who don't speak German or take an interest in post-war German history, is an odd concept. The word doesn't really have an English translation but means "coming to terms with the past" and conveys the feelings, emotions and actions taken by Germans born since the early 20th century. It is the process of dealing with the masses of homosexuals, Jews, gypsies and mentally ill people who were killed in concentration camps. The regret felt for the actions taken by an egocentric dictator during the 30s and 40s. I know of German people who were born up to 40 years after the end of the Second World War who are ashamed, embarrassed even, by what their country did during that war.
The film brings the concept, and a great story to the big screen and to the wider world. It is easy to look back on the atrocities and condemn them without giving a thought to how the people who did it, and the following generations of that nation, feel.
Incidentally Bernhard Schlink, the book's author, requested that the film be made in English, not German. This not only allows the film to go global a little easier - after all who watches German films - but also to allow these very German post-genocidal issues to strike a chord with other people. Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Iraq, Iraq, Somalia - all places where people have been uprooted and mistreated because of who they are, where they live and what they believe.
* Ralph Fiennes, spelled "Ralph" but pronounced "Rafe" - I never understood why!
Timmy "Still thinking about the past" Magic
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1 comment:
Oh Tim, you are so intellectual
sometimes
lol
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