The Reader (1988 film)

The Reader
French poster
Directed by	Michel Deville
Produced by	Rosalinde Deville
Screenplay by	Michel Deville Rosalinde Deville
Based on	La Lectrice by Raymond Jean
Starring	Miou-Miou Régis Royer María Casares Patrick Chesnais Marianne Denicourt
Music by	Ludwig van Beethoven
Cinematography	Dominique Le Rigoleur
Edited by	Raymonde Guyot
Distributed by	Acteurs Auteurs Associés
Release dates	17 August 1988 (1988-08-17)
Running time	97 minutes
Country	France
Language	French

The Reader (French: La Lectrice) is a 1988 French film directed by Michel Deville. 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.

Plot

Constance is a young French woman who is dissatisfied with her mundane life but has a talent for reading stories to others. As the movie opens, she is reading 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 la veuve de Général
• Patrick Chesnais as Le PDG
• Pierre Dux as Magistrat
• Christian Ruché as Jean / Philippe
• Brigitte Catillon as la mère d'Éric
• Marianne Denicourt as Bella B.
• Charlotte Farran as Coralie
• Clotilde de Bayser as la mère de Coralie
• Jean-Luc Boutté as l'inspecteur de police
• Simon Eine as le professeur d'hôpital
• Maria de Medeiros as l'infirmière muette
• André Wilms as l'homme de Rue Saint-Landry
• Bérangère Bonvoisin as la mère de Joël
• Sylvie Laporte as Françoise
• Léo Campion as le grand-père

Review

Deville explores themes that not only consider literature, but the cinema too. This playfully self-reflexive tone is reinforced in the Chinese boxes-like structure of the narrative. There are multiple layers of story, and actors play multiple parts.

Awards and nominations

• César Awards (France)
  • Won: Best Actor – Supporting Role (Patrick Chesnais)
  • Nominated: Best Actress – Leading Role (Miou-Miou)
  • Nominated: Best Actress – Supporting Role (María Casares)
  • Nominated: Best Director (Michel Deville)
  • Nominated: Best Editing (Raymonde Guyot)
  • Nominated: Best Film
  • Nominated: Best Poster (Benjamin Baltimore)
  • Nominated: Best Production Design (Thierry Leproust)
  • Nominated: Best Screenplay (Michel or Rosalinde Deville)
• Louis Delluc Prize (France)
  • Won: Best Film

See also

• List of submissions to the 61st Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
• List of French submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film

External links

• The Reader at IMDb
• La lectrice at filmsdefrance
• La lectrice at rottentomatoes