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The Lives of Others
 
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The Lives of Others

Starring: Ulrich Mühe, Martina Gedeck Director: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck MPAA Rating: R
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
List Price: CDN$ 22.97
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  • This item: The Lives of Others DVD ~ Ulrich Mühe

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The Lives of Others
88% buy the item featured on this page:
The Lives of Others 4.7 out of 5 stars (16)
CDN$ 19.99
Black Book
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Black Book 4.5 out of 5 stars (4)
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Downfall 4.4 out of 5 stars (10)
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Product Details

Product Description

Review

American viewers may be more familiar with The Lives of Others as the film that upset Pan's Labyrinth for the 2006 Best Foreign Language Film Oscar than they are from having seen it themselves. But those who did see it understood full well why this German sociopolitical drama deserved every honor a body of voters might bestow it. While most of the memorable "Big Brother is watching" films have dealt with future dystopias, rookie writer/director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck finds plenty of this justified paranoia in his own country's recent history. For Westerners, it's a truly chilling view into East Germany as controlled by the Communists and policed by the Stasi during the 1980s. But The Lives of Others is no clinical look into German history -- it's an involving character study full of difficult choices and suspenseful moments, and it plays out to an extremely satisfying conclusion. All the performances are effective, but this is Ulrich Mhe's film -- an amazing statement given his even, quiet performance. A true believer in the twin weapons of intensive surveillance and emotional torture, who teaches students to perfect these very principles, Mhe's Gerd Wiesler pursues his job with a dogmatic fervor that's concentrated into near wordlessness. It's a real measure of his capabilities as an actor, then, that he takes the viewer on such a profound arc toward enlightenment, remarkable in its subtlety. The title may be a bit inexact -- "The Political Philosophies of Others" might have cut closer to how Wiesler is affected by the playwright and his girlfriend. But how to employ his newfound ideas, when similar zealots are monitoring his own protocols for any chinks in his resolve? The Lives of Others is an equal joy to watch aesthetically, shot expertly by Hagen Bogdanski and dressed with an artful drabness by production designer Silke Buhr. And with its thematic parallels to the Bush administration's domestic wire-tapping policies, it crackles with immediacy. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide

On the DVD

Deleted scenes
Making of The Lives of Others
Interview with director Florian Henckel Von Donnersmarck
Director's commentary
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Customer Reviews

16 Reviews
5 star:
 (12)
4 star:
 (3)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.7 out of 5 stars (16 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most helpful customer reviews

 
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars "What is a director that cannot direct?", May 6 2007
By M. B. Alcat "Curiosity killed the cat, but sa... (Los Angeles, California) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
"The lives of others" (= Das leben der anderen") is a wonderful film directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, that won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film. Truth to be told, I hadnt heard his name before, but I am certain that I will not forget it now. This film, his debut as a director, is simply exceptional. An engaging political thriller, this movie is at the same time a complex study regarding the power of choices, and the way we behave when faced to our worst fears.

The story is set in East Germany in 1984, when the lack of freedom and the zeal of the Secret Police (Stasi) were pervasive. Captain Gerd Wiesler (Ulrich Mühe) is an agent that specializes in discovering "traitors", that is, those that dont agree with everything that the government says. Wiesler is very good at his job, and has no mercy for those that dont add up to his ideal of what a good socialist should be.

That is probably the reason why his superior assigns him the task of of spying on Georg Dreyman (Sebastian Koch), a well-known socialist playwright that is nonetheless suspicious, due to his friends. Dreyman lives with his girlfriend, Christa-Maria Sieland (Martina Gedeck), a talented actress that loves him but has sexual trysts with a powerful government official that promises her that she will never be in the black list of artist that cannot work.

As Wiesler learns more about the couple, thanks to the hidden microphones his team installed in their apartment, he starts warming towards them. He even protects them when Dreyman becomes actively involved in "subversive" activities, as a reaction to the suicide of a friend that had been blacklisted. But how far will Wiesler risk himself? And can human beings really change?

Strangely enough, "The lives of others" tackles those difficult questions in a manner that leaves nothing to be desired, and makes you think almost involuntarily about many more that have to do with them. On the whole, I must say that I cannot recommend this film strongly enough. Please dont miss it...

Belen Alcat, May 2007
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A very powerful movie!, Dec 9 2007
By Aeneas - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   
This movie is so well made and with such depth of character and depiction of a totalitarian system, that it gives the viewer much to contemplate. It shows a ponerized society in it's final stages, when creativity is completely stifled. I liked the way the stasi captain was depicted, who was ideologically driven and the process he underwent. It would be hard to write more without revealing too much of the plot. In light of the way Western society is marching in a fascist direction with surveillance and torture becoming the norm this movie is a must see. To understand about ponerology, I can recommend a book I recently read called "Political Ponerology, a Science on the Nature of Evil Adjusted for Political Purposes", as it compliments this film nicely.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Great, Thought Provoking Movie, Sep 6 2007
By Kilgore "wonderman1" (Canada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   
I hate subtitles (German movie) but nothing else to rent so we went for it and glad I did. The subtitles were easy to read and the whole movie from plot to directing to acting was brilliant. This is about East Germany and their secret service whose goal was to "know everything" by spying on and interrogating their own. One of their senior spies ends up spying on a playwright but gets caught up in his life and no doubt comparing it to his own lonely and bleak existance.

Taught and smart, I really recommend this one, should probably get a nomination for the Oscars at least for best foriegn film.
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 		 Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Rats in the walls
'The Lives of Others' is an interesting recent German film set in the old Communist DDR, depicting a relationship between watcher and watched. Read more
Published 2 days ago by Andreas Faust

5.0 out of 5 stars A very important movie
The Lives of Others needs little introduction or much further praise. It won the 2006 Oscar for Best Foreign-Language Film and is widely recognized to be one of the best movies of... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Prairie Pal

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best movies I've seen
This film is definitely in my top 5 of all time. It is moving without trying to be. One of the best things about this film is how it revolves around the power of art and the human... Read more
Published 7 months ago by vamosrafa07

4.0 out of 5 stars slow moving at first
Although this movie is very slow moving at first, if you stay with it, it will be worth it. The conclusion builds throughout the movie and the ending is very moving. Read more
Published 9 months ago by B. Hopkins

5.0 out of 5 stars Lives of the others..
This is a great movie that transports us back in time and behind the "iron curtain". For those who actually lived through those times, it will bring memories back and they will... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Blanka

3.0 out of 5 stars one great performance does not make this a classic
One thing this movie evokes is how dull life in East Germany was for both those who work for the state and those who were watched by the state. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Brian Maitland

4.0 out of 5 stars Great movie!
So many different elements it this movie make it a must-see. Almost every character is an integral part of the movie and the topic is disturbing but important. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Jane Humphrey

5.0 out of 5 stars Hearing the heretics
It's all about stability - how to maintain it and how to prevent its disruption. In East Germany, from the establishment of The Wall, society found ways to lay out a given path... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Stephen A. Haines

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautifully made and poignant movie
Without understanding all of what I was watching, I was moved to tears. The visual elements of this film conveyed so much of the drabness, the hopelessness and, ultimately, the... Read more
Published on Jan 30 2008 by Sonetto

5.0 out of 5 stars A very powerful movie!

This movie is so well made and with such depth of character and depiction of a totalitarian system, that it gives the viewer much to contemplate. Read more
Published on Dec 10 2007 by Aeneas

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