Making "The Reader": Translating Love And The Unspeakable

New York Times:

The Germans have a word for it: Vergangenheitsbewaltigung -- more or less, "coming to terms with the past." It's not an easy concept to translate into English; even less so, perhaps, into the American idiom.

When Bernard Schlink's novel "The Reader" was first published, it was hailed as an important addition to this distinctly German genre. Turning it into a film -- by the British director Stephen Daldry and screenwriter David Hare, and backed by some heavy American movie muscle -- required a series of increasingly complex translations over the course of more than a decade: from German to English, from a book to a film, from Europe to America, from a solitary meditation to something that could fill theaters, and from its original cultural context to something international -- ultimately to return it home, the same, and yet changed.

The first and most literal translation was a cinch. It was already a sensation in Germany, where it has subsequently been added to high school curriculums, with the result that today, as Mr. Daldry says, "you can't find a German who hasn't read the book."

Read the whole story: New York Times

Comments

[rmetz74]

I went to a screening of the film last night - it's excellent. Ralph Fiennes actually isn't in it that much, but Kate Winslet is fantastic, and the young man who plays young Raplh is remarkable.

There was a Q&A afterward with Stephen Daldry (and Leonard Maltin, which was a surprise) in which he talked about some really interesting approaches to the film, largely stemming from his background in theater.

I hope it does very well, it deserves it.

[rcampbell]

".....with Kate Winslet grinding around on top of him..."

Never heard of the book, but I like the thought above. Hum!

[catgirl666]

I read the book last year, the movie ought to be quite interesting , very disturbing subject matter, I wonder if Kate can pull it off.