dir. Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
A movie set in 1984 East Germany? Well that was enough to make me want to see this film. It opens with the a Stasi agent (The East German secret police) conducting an intense interrogation of a suspected dissident. From there, I was afraid it would be a grim uncomfortable movie. But it turned out to be bittersweet, contemplative and a bit humorous.
The cast was excellent and Ulrich Mühe, the actor playing the lead Stasi agent, apparently known as the German Kevin Spacey, really carried the movie. Mühe plays a restrained and obedient high-level Stasi agent, quietly conducting a surveillance operation of a writer under suspicion by the government and consequently becomes engrossed in monitoring the activity in the writer's life-filled apartment.
The Stasi agent little by little becomes sympathetic towards the couple he is observing who gradually become caught up in a web of blackmail. Eventually he ends up sacrificing himself for the lives he's been watching. Not the most orginal plot, but it is executed with style, good writing, and a solid story.
The movie unfolds slowly and presents many moral dilemmas. It deals with questions of corrupted power, how much repression a person will endure before taking action, and the role of artists in a time of censure.
I also loved the female lead, she had a strong, interesting face, but I didn't much like her character. She was written as weak and there are instances of rape and sexual domination that were not dealt with originally by the writer. Although it didn't bother me enough to influence my liking of the film.
This movie takes place during a grim but fascinating time in German history. Unbeknownst to the characters, the Berlin wall is about to come down in a few years, making history an interesting subplot of its own. And like most foreign films The Lives of Others is smarter than your average U.S. production and as my filmgoing partner noted it "has a refreshing lack of explosions."
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