The Lives of Others
Just when I had lost complete faith in the movies, I went to see The Lives of Others. This film that won the Oscar for best foreign film this past year, 2006, is fantastic.
It is a dramatic compelling film that tells the story of the atrocities that happened in East Germany in 1984. As the film slowly builds and the story begins to unravel, the tension continues to rise. The two main characters are a playwright, Dreyman and the man, Weisler, from the regime who is assigned to spy on him. Weisler slowly becomes disenfranchised with the regime as does the playwright who he is secretly watching. The fear and power of the Eastern German regime seeps into the pours of every character in the film.
The film gives the viewer an inside look into what went on in East Germany prior to the wall coming down, and then after the wall came down. It is an incredibly powerful film that sticks with you.
Bravo to the people behind this film. The Lives of Others is guaranteed to hold its own for many many years to come.
Comments (Archived):
You should read “Stasiland”(fact) by Anna Funder, excellent read about this terrible time in East Germany.