The Lives of Others: (Review)

national | arts and media | opinion/analysis

Friday July 27, 2007 13:29

by MikW

Set in the DDR in 1984, actors, stasi, writers and politicians display some of the
best and worst vestiges of humanity against a backdrop of dimly lit deserted streets, grey buildings
and fenced in feelings. Stasi agent Wiesler a loyal servant of the party and the state believes
writer Georg Dreyman to be not so loyal, a crime in the stasi agents eyes.
Wiesler gets his chance to nail the writer when the corrupt and seedy Minister Of Culture decides he wants Dreyman to be found guilty of anything. The politicians motives have nothing to do with love of party or state.

Set in the DDR in 1984, actors, stasi, writers and politicians display some of the
best and worst vestiges of humanity against a backdrop of dimly lit deserted streets, grey buildings
and fenced in feelings. Stasi agent Wiesler a loyal servant of the party and the state believes
writer Georg Dreyman to be not so loyal, a crime in the stasi agents eyes.
Wiesler gets his chance to nail the writer when the corrupt and seedy Minister Of Culture decides he wants Dreyman to be found guilty of anything. The politicians motives have nothing to do with love of party or state.

The writers apartment is bugged and Wiesler spends the majority of the rest of the movie
in the apartment upstairs listening in on the lives of Dreyman his girlfriend and their
associates. Through his intrusion into the lives of others the stasi agent discovers some things
about his own life and the true nature of the party and state he has served.
The DDR is painted as a bleak place ruled by corrupt politicians and its 100000 stasi agents.
The blurb at the start of the movie informs (no pun intended) us that the stasi had 300000 informers
The movie gives the impression that some of these informers were forced to choose between
informing on family, friends and lovers or been blacklisted out of existence or simply
disappearing forever into temporary detention. In the DDR you could be made disappear for reading
non official news papers.

The image of the DDR portrayed in the movie reminded me of an image I had recently of the globalized world. A desolate place of sameness where choice and space do not exist, where the need of the corrupt rulers and their agents in the state terror services to know everything
imprisons us behind fences of greed and fear. The movie draws you in and through multiple story lines you eavesdrop into the lives of the characters just as the stasi agent upstairs eavesdrops on the writer and his girlfriend.

The movie drags on a bit in search of a happy ending (to put bums on seats methinks) . It does not need a happy ending.
However the dragged out happy ending does not detract to much from the quality viewing experience that is 'The Lives of Others'.
Go see it.