The Lives of Others (Das Leben der Anderen)
East Berlin, November 1984. Five years before its downfall, the former East-German government ensured its claim to power with a ruthless system of control and surveillance. Party-loyalist Captain Gerd Wiesler hopes to boost his career when given the job of collecting evidence against the playwright Georg Dreyman and his girlfriend, the celebrated theater actress Christa-Maria Sieland. After all, the "operation" is backed by the highest political circles. What he didn’t anticipate, however, was that submerging oneself into the world of the target also changes the surveillance agent. The immersion in The Lives of Others – in love, literature, free thinking and speech – makes Wiesler acutely aware of the meagerness of his own existence and opens to him a completely new way of life which he has ever more trouble resisting. But the system, once started, cannot be stopped. A dangerous game has begun...
Member Reviews
Highly recommended - billie
I thought at first I would not like this, it was so sterile and cold. But gradually, as I followed the excellent plot, I realized the chilly atmosphere was required for the story. After all, Stasi East Germany was not a lush and vibrant place! The writing and acting are excellent, as is the directing. This deserved all the awards it gleaned. The end was a surprising turn of sweetness after all the echoing unhappiness. What a dreadful time for people, how to express their souls, their inherent freedom, with the Stasi watching virtually everybody doing everything all the time. It's a pathetic control concept that they indulged in to the max. The characters in the film show human reactions to this iron fist, most notably the actress, and the Stasi eaves dropper, who is changed so much by watching the Lives of Others. Excellent film.The Lives of Others - AppsScraps
Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck - a mouthful of a name for sure - directs this perfectly paced thriller that won the Academy Award for Best Foreign picture in 2007. Set in East Berlin when the Stasi ruled supreme and whole arms of the East Germany government spent their time monitoring the lives of others. Into this world arrives Stasi secret agent Capt. Gerd Wiesler (a fabulous Ulrich Mühe), a man of monotonous routine and precision, who is charged with spying on the lives of author Georg Dreyman (Sebastian Koch) - believed to be sympathetic to the West - and his lover, a actor named Christa-Maria Sieland (Martina Gedeck). Problem is the real motive for the spying is not western sympathies - though are these discovered? - but the fact the Minister of Culture has a love-on for Christa. The film works brilliantly on many levels - the suspense building subtlety throughout - as Wiesler's own fascination with the couple slowly creates holes in his Stasi armour. The Lives of Others gives us an example of the tragedy that results when a man's allegiance - to a ideology, to his country - is tested.
My rating 9 out of 10.Every Award Justified...... - Stitch
all 42 wins, including Oscar for best foreign film. Where to begin? Ulrich Mühe. In one individual he manages to exemplify the perverse environment of an entire society controlled by manipulating without any moral compunction the everyday survival instincts of its citizens. Yet as the plot unfolds, Mühe very subtly and very believably progresses from an automan self-conditioned to belief in the enemy without and within to a reasoning being who is finally and inevitably faced with untenable choices. And how he manages to hold our interest without ever resorting to any hint of melodrama is a credit to not only his skill but also outstanding direction and one of the finest screenplays of 2006.
The balance of the cast is equally impressive but Martina Gedeck deserves special mention. As the more complex character, she continually challenges our suppositions as she struggles with the emotional morass that derives from her ambitions and what she is willing to sacrifice to achieve them. In fact among the many memorable aspects of this film is how her persona comes to represent the precise quandary faced by any sane citizen of East Germany of that era who longed for freedom of choice and expression.
The cinematography is properly sterile as befits the sterile society and the attention to detail is appropriate to the detailist nature of German culture. What other people would countenance such copious documentation of their activities? The scene in the catacombs of the Stasi filing chambers says it all. Added to all this is an intelligent and moving ending, alone worth a separate Oscar. 'It's for me' is a cinematic gem you will cherish, believe me.
In summary, a masterful representation of an Orwellian society that survived for almost two generations from a unique confluence of factors...a power-addicted regime sustained by the martial fist of an occupying power.
Member Reviews
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Highly recommended - billie
I thought at first I would not like this, it was so sterile and cold. But gradually, as I followed the excellent plot, I realized the chilly atmosphere was required for the story. After all, Stasi East Germany was not a lush and vibrant place! The writing ...The Lives of Others - AppsScraps
Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck - a mouthful of a name for sure - directs this perfectly paced thriller that won the Academy Award for Best Foreign picture in 2007. Set in East Berlin when the Stasi ruled supreme and whole arms of the East Germany government ...Every Award Justified...... - Stitch
all 42 wins, including Oscar for best foreign film. Where to begin? Ulrich Mühe. In one individual he manages to exemplify the perverse environment of an entire society controlled by manipulating without any moral compunction the everyday survival instincts ...