The Reader (1988 film)

1988 French film
  • 17 August 1988 (1988-08-17)
Running time
97 minutesCountryFranceLanguageFrench

The Reader (French: La Lectrice) is a 1988 French film directed by Michel Deville. The film won that year's Louis Delluc Prize, and was nominated for nine César Awards including Best Supporting Actor, won by Patrick Chesnais.

Plot

Constance is a young French woman dissatisfied with her mundane life but has a talent for reading stories to others. As the movie opens, she reads a book called La Lectrice to her boyfriend, in which the main character, a woman named Marie, reads literature to others for a living. She becomes engrossed in the book to the point that she begins imagining herself as Marie: Constance and Marie are played by Miou-Miou, and the movie weaves back and forth between their stories.

Marie embarks on her new profession with gusto. As she reads to her clients, all of whom are seeking a little more than the solace of literature, she works a fantastical transformation on them. Her clients include the widow of a Marxist general (María Casares), a nervous businessman (Patrick Chesnais), a retired magistrate, and a handicapped teenage boy. Soon the clients' friends and families become involved, as does her professor (Christian Blanc). The general's widow's maidservant and the boy's friends from school become affected by the readings, and Constance has an affair with the businessman. Books read include The Lover (by Marguerite Duras, read to the sexually frustrated businessman), and the works of Marquis de Sade (read to the judge and his libertine friends).

Cast

  • Miou-Miou as Constance / Marie
  • Régis Royer as Éric
  • Maria Casarès as The General's widow
  • Patrick Chesnais as The CEO
  • Pierre Dux as Magistrat
  • Christian Ruché as Jean / Philippe
  • Brigitte Catillon as Éric's mother
  • Marianne Denicourt as Bella B.
  • Charlotte Farran as Coralie
  • Clotilde de Bayser as Coralie's mother
  • Jean-Luc Boutté as The Inspector
  • Simon Eine as The professor
  • Maria de Medeiros as The nurse
  • André Wilms as The man of the Saint-Landry street
  • Sylvie Laporte as Françoise
  • Léo Campion as The grandfather

Awards and nominations

The film was selected as the French entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 61st Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.[2]

Music

The film features music by Ludwig van Beethoven. The music titles are uncredited, but the following musicians are credited: Jean-François Heisser (piano), Elisabeth Balmas (violin), Roland Pidoux (cello), Bruno Pasquier (viola), Michel Moraguès (flute) and Jacques Di Donato (clarinet).

  • Piano Sonata No. 17 (Tempest) - III. Allegretto
  • Violin Sonata No. 8 - III. Allegro vivace
  • Piano Sonata No. 21 (Waldstein)
  • Violin Sonata No. 5 (Spring Sonata) - III. Scherzo: Allegro molto
  • Piano Trio, Op. 11 (Gassenhauer) - III. Tema con variazioni
  • Serenade for flute, violin and viola
  • Cello Sonata No.1
  • Symphony No. 3 (Sinfonia Eroica) - II. Marcia funebre: Adagio assai

See also

References

  1. ^ "1989 Award Winners". National Board of Review of Motion Pictures. 2016. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  2. ^ Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

External links

  • The Reader at IMDb Edit this at Wikidata
  • La lectrice at filmsdefrance
  • The Reader at Rotten Tomatoes
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Films directed by Michel Deville
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1948–1960
1961–1980
1981–2000
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  • Amélie (2001)
  • 8 Women (2002)
  • Bon Voyage (2003)
  • The Chorus (2004)
  • Joyeux Noël (2005)
  • Avenue Montaigne (2006)
  • Persepolis (2007)
  • The Class (2008)
  • A Prophet (2009)
  • Of Gods and Men (2010)
  • Declaration of War (2011)
  • The Intouchables (2012)
  • Renoir (2013)
  • Saint Laurent (2014)
  • Mustang (2015)
  • Elle (2016)
  • BPM (Beats per Minute) (2017)
  • Memoir of War (2018)
  • Les Misérables (2019)
  • Two of Us (2020)
  • Titane (2021)
  • Saint Omer (2022)
  • The Taste of Things (2023)