German filmmaker FlorianHenckel von Donnersmarck tellsthe suspenseful story of GerdWiesler (Ulrich Muehe), an agentof the Stasi, the secret police ofcommunist East Germany.
The film shows the oppressivetactics of Eastern Germany’sGerman Democratic Republic(GDR) in the 1980s and dealswith the rarely explored story ofEast Germans living in dividedGermany. Even though the moviehas only recently hit U.S. theatersin 2007, “The Lives of Others” iscertainly one of the better moviesof this or last year.
Wiesler, as a Stasi agent,monitors the activity of playwrightGeorg Dreyman (Sebastian Koch)and his girlfriend, Christa-MariaSieland (Martina Gedeck).
Initially Wiesler is staunchlydedicated to the Eastern Germancause, but he begins to developan emotional attachment to hissubjects. Von Donnersmarckprovides Wiesler with real humanqualities despite his position as aStasi agent.
While Wiesler watches theDreyman and Sieland, we get towatch the development of Wiesler.We see the struggle between hisintuitive affection for his thesepeople and his dedication to theStasi. Unsure whether help ruinDreyman, Wiesler becomes stuckbetween his morals and his job.
Von Donnersmarck creates avictim not only out of Dreymanand Sieland, but out of Wiesleras well. The movie shows howthe harsh and unfair EasternGerman government victimizesthe ordinary people, as well asthe workers trapped within thesystem. Gedeck gives one of thebest performances of the filmas Christa-Maria, Georg’sgirlfriend and an actress in oneof his plays. Gedeck handlessome scenes of heavy emotionbrilliantly.
Along with Muehe’s strongperformance as the agent,Gedeck creates the powerfulemotional foundation ofthis film. This film caters tothe emotions of the viewerswhile tackling the relativelyunexplored history of the EastGerman communist regime.
It’s obvious why the filmreceived 11 nominations at theGerman Film Awards in 2006.Von Donnersmarck’s “TheLives of Others” deservesmuch praise for this story ofhuman exploitation and shouldnot be overlooked by Americanaudiences.
