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Moviola > Films > The Lives of Others
The Lives of Others (Das Leben der Anderen) (15) 137 mins"Nothing is private. Nothing is sacred."
1984, East Berlin. Glasnost is nowhere in sight. The population of the GDR is kept under strict control by the Stasi, the East German Secret Police. Its force of 100,000 collaborators and 200,000 informers safeguards the Dictatorship of the Proletariat. Its declared goal: "to know everything". Gerd Wiesler (Ulrich Mühe), a respected Stasi member and master interrogator, is asked by his superior, Grubitz (Ulrich Turkur), to spy on playwright Georg Dreyman (Sebastian Koch) and his actress-girlfriend, Crista Maria Sieland (Martina Gedeck). Dreyman has never overtly criticized the GDR, but Grubitz suspects he may be leading a double life. To complicate matters, a highly placed minister (Thomas Thieme) has set his sights on Crista and wants Dreyman out of the picture. Weisler goes into the mission intending to uncover instances of Dreyman's anti-state duplicity but, the more he listens to what transpires in Dreyman's apartment, the more involved he becomes in the playwright's day-to-day living. Gradually he develops protective feelings for the couple, and makes the leap from observer to participant as he tries to save them from making decisions that will ruin their futures.
"There is a bracing, old-fashioned quality to Mr. von Donnersmarck’s film, which supplies us with good guys to root for and villains to despise. But it also shows, with excruciating precision, the cruelty with which a totalitarian state can exploit the weakness and confusion of its citizens." New York Times
"A suspenseful thriller with a complex and powerful moral drive." Philip French
"With solid performances and a terrific screenplay, this movie offers solid, no-frills drama that feels organic and believable, not contrived." James Berardinelli
Showing: 24-Apr Mere 24-Apr Odiham
Last modified: 08-Apr-2008 |
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