The Reader · written by David Hare · 2008

In Hanna’s cell, Brenner reads her note directing the money in the tin and bank to the daughter who wrote the book; Michael declines to see Hanna.

Scene 189 of 196 · ≈ 2 min on screen · First scene of act three

Michael
Ms Brenner

Act oneAct two

Begins 1:14 into a 1:21 film

The story so farBefore scene 189

As a law student, Michael sees Hanna, his former lover, on trial for war crimes and must face the secret that shaped their teenage relationship.

Scenes 1–6
In 1995, Michael prepares breakfast for Brigitte, then is alone in his apartment and looks out the window.
Scenes 7–24
The sick schoolboy Michael accepts Hanna’s help and returns to her.
Scenes 25–35
Michael enters an intimate relationship with Hanna, organized around his reading to her.
Scenes 36–96
Michael alternates between time with Hanna and school; their reading ritual and cycling trip continue while he also spends time with friends.
Scenes 97–104
At the trial, Michael finds Hanna among the defendants and hears her admit involvement in selections.
Scenes 106–137
Testimony reveals Hanna’s role; Michael’s discovery of her illiteracy cannot prevent her conviction.
Scene 155
Michael records himself reading the Odyssey aloud onto tape.
Scene 183
Michael visits Hanna before release, but she tells him the dead remain dead and that she has learned to read.
Just before
Scene 186
Hanna stacks books beneath herself, climbs onto them, and reaches upward in her cell.
Scene 187
Michael approaches the prison carrying flowers.
Scene 188
Brenner comes to Michael on the bench and murmurs to him; he nods, ashen.
Scene 189
This scene

189INT. CORRIDOR & CELL. PRISON. DAY

The two of them come together down the corridor. They stop at the open door of the cell. The body has been removed. The books are still on the floor. MICHAEL goes in. A bare table, a chair, a bed, a closet, a toilet in the corner behind the door. There are shelves with books, an alarm clock, a stuffed bear, two mugs, instant coffee, tea tins.

MICHAEL

She didn’t pack. She never intended

to leave.

MS BRENNER looks at him in confirmation. MICHAEL looks at the two lower shelves on which are ranged the tapes with the cassette machine.

Above the bed are a series of cuttings, pictures torn from magazines, showing meadows, hillsides, pasture, cherry trees. One in particular : a burst of autumnal colours. MICHAEL kneels on the bed to look at them. There are quotations, articles, recipes, even sayings in HANNA’S childish handwriting : ‘Spring lets its blue banner flutter through the air’ is one. Then he sees a newspaper photograph : the young MICHAEL BERG receiving a prize from the school principal. The headline ‘Michael Berg receives school literature prize.’

MS BRENNER reaches out for a tea tin from the shelf. Then she sits next to MICHAEL on the bed, and takes out a folded sheet of paper from her suit pocket.

MS BRENNER

She left me a message, a sort of

will. I’ll read out the bit that

concerns you.

MICHAEL looks at the effortful handwriting on the page.

MS BRENNER

“There is money in the old tea tin.

Give it to Michael Berg. He should

send it, alongside the 7,000 marks

in the bank, to the daughter who

wrote the book. It’s for her. She

should decide what to do with it.