Product Description
-------------------
This critically-accled, O®-winning film (Best Foreign
Language Film, 2006) is the erotic, emotionally-charged
experience Lisa Schwarzbaum (Entertainment Weekly) calls "a
nail-biter of a thriller!" Before the collapse of the Berlin
Wall, East Germany's population was closely monitored by the
State Secret (Stasi). Only a few citizens above suspicion,
like renowned pro-Sot playwright Georg Dreyman, were
permitted to lead private lives. But when a corrupt government
official falls for Georg's stunning actress-girlfriend, Christa,
an ambitious Stasi man is ordered to bug the writer's
apartment to gain incriminating evidence against the rival. Now,
what the officer discovers is about to dramatically change their
lives - as well as his - in this seductive political thriller
Peter Travers (Rolling Stone) procls is "the best kind of
movie: one you can't get out of your head."
.com
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Nominated for a Best Foreign Language Film O, this is a
first-rate thriller that, like Bertolucci's The Conformist and
Cla's The Conversation, opts for character development over
car chases. The place is East Berlin, the year is 1984, and it
all begins with a simple surveillance assignment: Capt. Gerd
Wiesler (Ulrich Mühe in a restrained, yet deeply felt
performance), a Stasi officer and a spet in this kind of
thing, has been assigned to keep an eye on Georg Dreyman
(Sebastian Koch, Black Book), a respected playwright, and his
actress girlfriend, Christa-Maria Sieland (Martina Gedeck, Mostly
Martha). Though Dreyman is known to associate with the occasional
dissident, like blacklisted director Albert Jerska (Volkmar
Kleinert), his record is spotless. Everything changes when
Wiesler discovers that Minister Hempf (Thomas Thieme) has an
ulterior motive in ing on this seemingly upright citizen. In
other words, it's personal, and Wiesler's sympathies shift from
the government to its people--or at least to this one particular
person. That would be risky enough, but then Wiesler uses his
privileged position to affect a change in Dreyman's life. The
God-like move he makes may be minor and untraceable, but it will
have major consequences for all concerned, including Wiesler
himself. Writer/director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck starts
with a simple premise that becomes more complicated and
emotionally involving as his assured debut unfolds. Though three
epilogues is, arguably, two too many, The Lives of Others is
always elegant, never confusing. It's class with feeling.
--Kathleen C. Fennessy
Beyond The Lives of Others
Films from Germany (
/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/284930/ref=d_ap_lives_1 )
Other Cold War Films (
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)
More Arthouse Selections
from Sony Pictures Classics
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Stills from The Lives of Others (click for larger image)
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