How far would you go to protect a secret?

Starring: Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes, David Kross, Bruno Ganz, Alexandria Maria Lara, Lena Olin, Vijessna Ferkic, Karoline Herfurth

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ - great

"We're changing the order we do things. Read to me first, kid. Then we make love." - Hanna Schmitz

Why watch this? There are always complexities around affairs with strangers. This one is a doozie.

Plot Summary: In 1958, a 15-year-old German lad, Michael, meets a much older tram operator, Hanna. They soon become lovers and Hanna incorporates sessions where he reads his school books to her. This steamy affair is abruptly ended when Hanna leaves town due to a work promotion. Michael takes it hard, but eventually enrolls at Heidelberg University School of Law. As part of class, he attends a trial of several former Nazi SS guards for the murder of Jewish women and children locked in a burning church near Kraków, Poland.

Dad's Preview: What started as a sweet, if age inappropriate, romance, suddenly derails into a Nazi war trial. This film is told through a series of flashbacks by the older Michael in 1995.  This gem is a compelling, complicated drama that will hold your attention right to its bittersweet conclusion. Miss Winslet, once again, gives a performance worthy of adulation.

Mirage Enterprises/Neunte Babelsberg Film; The Weinstein Company