The Reader · written by David Hare · 2008

Michael cycles with wet hair toward Hanna’s apartment, looking unhappy.

Scene 75 of 196 · ≈ 1 min on screen · Act two

Act oneAct two

Begins 29 min into a 1:21 film

The story so farBefore scene 75

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.
Just before
Scene 72
Michael arrives late at Hanna’s and begins reading Chekhov; Hanna sees through his excuse about school.
Scene 73
A tram supervisor offers Hanna a promotion to office work; she looks distraught rather than pleased.
Scene 74
Friends tell Michael of their planned birthday party; he declines because he promised someone else, and they go off angry.
Scene 75
This scene

75EXT. STREET. DAY

MICHAEL is cycling towards HANNA’S apartment, his hair wet from the lake, looking equally unhappy.