The Lives Of Others

Language : German
Year Of Release : 2006
Director : Florian Henckel Von Donnersmarck
Notable Awards : Oscar Award(Best Foreign Language Film),European Film Award(Best Film,Best Screenplay)

Before you start watching this movie,you need to get certain facts of history right.The movie is set in early 1980's in the oppressive , socialist state of East Berlin, the capital of East Germany under the Soviet rule.The rest of Germany is under the capitalist rule of America,France and England,thus making West Germany more prosperous,less suppressive leading to mass defection from the Eastern side of the country.The East German governance bans any such defection and shifts the onus to the Stasi(the secret police of East Germany) which in turn creates a society built on deception,faithlessness and paranoia.The movie begins as the story of a couple and a Stasi officer spying on them day and night and as it progresses, the wall between them starts breaking slowly, with his life and future getting entwined with theirs...

The Stasi officer,Hauptmann Gerd Wiesler(Ulirch Muhe) comes across as a staunch supporter of the socialist regime in East Germany with innate interrogation skills and cold , no-nonsense demeanour.Though he is not loud about his ambitions,it is very clear from the beginning that he strongly looks forward to a challenging and rewarding career ,not compromising his self-respect and beliefs at the same time.He is well known for his skills as an unforgiving and never failing interrogator who uses subtly cruel and brilliant techniques to pull out the truth from the detained.The first scene where he questions a man who has helped his friend defect,by not letting him sleep, till the victim cries and blurts out the truth out of desperation, shows Wiesler's dedication and brilliance.(In a later scene,he says,"An innocent man will get enraged at this injustice,but the guilty will know that he is there for a reason and will become quiet and then cry")

On the other side is Georg Dreyman(Sebastian Koch) , a successful playwright,emotional and vulnerable(His biggest fear is the fear of being alone..).He lives a perfect life on the outside with a soaring career,beautiful girlfriend and being equally popular in the Ministry and among his counterparts..But inside,he is burning with guilt ( as he watches his close friend and colleague,Jerska,spiral into hopelessness and finally commit suicide due to depression after being banned by the Ministry of State Security and hence deprived of doing what he is meant to do..directing..) and self-doubt ( when he realises that his steady girlfriend and confidante ,Christa-Maria Sieland(Martina Gedeck) , is actually not as faithful as she seems to be..).He lives an empty life,very aware of it and hating it every second.His helplessness slowly transforms into vengeance and decides to do his part,however little it is,to take this regime down..

Christa-Maria Sieland (Martina Gedeck) is full of contradictions...She is beautiful and talented,yet diffident about her acting skills..She loves her boyfriend fiercely,yet betrays him for saving herself..She is loyal to her love,yet sleeps with a Minister for saving her career...Her biggest strength and biggest weakness is her boyfriend-Dreyman..She is sleepwalking through life,totally aware that her career can bomb any day if she does not cater to the whims of her lecherous admirers in the ministry and that she can lose Dreyman any time and that there is nothing she can do to stop this...

It is at this point in the life of the inwardly secretive couple that it collides with that of the Stasi Officer,Wiesler..Wielser is asked to spy on the the couple by his classmate and boss,Lt.Anton(Ulrich Tukur),who has set his eyes on a top position in the ministry if this operation comes through successfully..This is actually triggered by a Minister,Bruno Hempf,who ogles at Christa Maria openly..

Wiesler, a hard task master that he is,starts the operation immediately,by bugging the apartment of Dreyman with microphones installed at every possible place, so that he does not miss even a whisper..and sets up his temporary make-shift office at the top of the apartment with all his equipments,complete with a typewriter and recorder..He spies on the couple fiercely,using all his senses,not giving up at any point..Now on,the movie spirals into a gripping thriller with Wiesler trying to save Dreyman's life and relationship..

The movie makes you think,cry and wonder ..all at the same time..Though the movie has a very strong and tightly bound script,had it not been for the performances,it would not have moved me so much...The Late Ulrich Muhe will leave a void in the International movie scene..His restrained, but in depth portrayal of the emotionless Stasi officer who knowingly sacrifices his dreams for total strangers is a benchmark performance..Also commendable are the roles essayed by Sebastian Koch and Martina Gedek as the helpless couple who are caught in a web of faithlessness and fear of being blacklisted...

I cannot,but wonder at the brilliance of the director who has made his debut (actually!!!) with such a no-nonsense film and also walked home with an Oscar.I recommend this movie to all movie lovers as it celebrates love for humanity and teaches us the importance of faith and trust..The message is loud and clear here..No matter what,Humanity will prevail...The wall will come down one day...