Winslet's Oscar Bid Battered by Nazi Furor

Mounting criticism of The Reader as an apologia for the Nazis is seriously undermining Kate Winslet's chances for an Oscar, reports the Telegraph. Critics have blasted the film as "Nazi porn," and the author of a book on Hitler charged in a recent article in Slate that it "asks us to empathize with an unrepentant mass murderer." Winslet plays an illiterate concentration camp guard who later seeks redemption by learning to read.

Critical comments are being circulated to board members who choose Oscar winners, according to an industry insider. "Kate Winslet is in a very tough fight with Meryl Streep for best actress," he added. "If people get put off The Reader, they've got an obvious place to go. This just might make the difference." (More Kate Winslet stories.)