The Lives of Others
Das Leben der Anderen
Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
© Océan Films
In early 1980s East Germany, best-selling author Georg Dreyman and his partner, actress Christa-Maria Sieland, are considered to be among the elite intellectuals of the Communist state, even if they secretly do not subscribe to the party’s ideas. The Ministry of Culture begins to take an interest in Christa and sends a secret agent named Wiesler to observe her. As his investigation progresses, he becomes increasingly fascinated by the intellectual couple...
Cast : Martina Gedeck, Ulrich Mühe, Sebastian Koch, Ulrich Tukur
Screenplay : Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
Cinematography : Hagen Bogdanski
Editing : Patricia Rommel
Music : Stéphane Moucha, Gabriel Yared
Screenplay : Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
Cinematography : Hagen Bogdanski
Editing : Patricia Rommel
Music : Stéphane Moucha, Gabriel Yared
Production : Wiedemann & Berg Filmproduktion
An absolutely astonishing film. As much for the skill of its script as for its subject matter, Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others) was a magnificent debut for young director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck in 2006. Plunging into the paranoid atmosphere that reigned in East Germany in 1984, the director shows the life of a playwright who moves between Communist censorship and the need for freedom. The victim of a cabal set up by the Minister of Culture, the hero is placed under increased surveillance, in the hope of catching political protesters. A low-ranking police officer records all his conversations, hidden in the attic of the ‘subject's’ building. From then on, a complicated ballet between the Stasi, the playwright’s partner, the minor official and the authorities unfolds: von Donnersmarck shows that, in these years of lead, there were glimmers of hope, confirmed when the Berlin Wall came down in 1989. (François Forestier; Le Nouvel Obs)�