I doubt that anyone was really surprised that Slumdog Millionaire won best picture last night along with a ton of other Oscar hardware. Both Sean Penn and Kate Winslet deserved their best actor awards, in my estimation.
We ended up seeing four of the five "best film" nominees this year with only Benjamin Button on our future DVD list.
On Saturday we saw The Reader after both of us having read the novel. It is an intriguing story about accepting responsibility for past "sins" if we can take a page from a recent blog. We enjoyed the movie but realized we can fill in significant parts of the story from our reading. The novel is much more subtle and well worth reading.
Kate Winslet is superb in her role as a former Nazi concentration camp guard who is eventually brought to justice. She is put on trial for her role and contrition, or lack thereof, is an important part of the story.
Recently we heard that a Roman Catholic bishop who denies the Holocaust or the Shoah was kicked out of Argentina, where he teaches. He was told to recant his position by the Pope, but appears reluctant to do so. There are times when we need to simply admit our wrongdoing and say that we are wrong.
The Reader reminds us that refusing to accept responsibility for our actions can have lasting consequences.
For the first time in a long time, I missed the Oscars. Instead, we spent an evening with friends at supper. I didn't feel as connected this year, as we just can't get to see recent films anymore. I look forward to the DVDs. The Reader is on my list.
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