The Lives of Others is the German gem from director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck. It stars Ulrich Mühe (Funny Games) as a loyal Stasi agent, Gerd Wiesler, for the German Democratic Republic or GDR in East-Berlin in the 1980s. The main aim of the GDR’s secret police is to spy on and infiltrate suspects who seem to threaten the ideology of the communist East. Gerd is assigned the task to spy on playwright Georg Dreyman, a public supporter of the Eastern ideals, who is suspected of having Western sentiments in private. The microphones that are planted into the walls of Georg’s apartment, give Gerd insight into the special life Georg shares with his actress-girlfriend Christa-Maria Sieland. Before long Georg struggles to remain objective and becomes entwined in their love affair, especially when he learns that the Minister of Germany, Bruno Hempf, has his own secret agenda invested in the surveillance of Georg.
The Lives of Others is a very understated film which deals with very universal topics like the importance of art, love, betrayal, the abuse of power, kindness towards one’s fellow brother or sister. The film is dark and grainy and it symbolises the oppression and suppression of those days. Even though the film is quite long, one gets so enmeshed in the story that the film flows freely and without irritation. Mühe is immaculate in his performance of the emotionally numb Gerd.
Art and artists have played significant roles in bringing about political change or giving a voice to the masses touched by war, or injustice, or racial prejudice, or oppression, etc. This film is also an artwork used by Von Donnersmarck to inform its audience of the injustices that took place in East-Berlin before the wall fell and how this piece of history affected private lives. It brings history to life, not as a faint memory, but as vivid reality.
An interesting and ironic development is: when Gerd starts out on his spying mission, Georg really has no disloyalty towards the communist regime, but when Minister Bruno abuses his power over Christa-Maria and when Georg’s director-friend Jerska is distraught after being blacklisted for several years, he begins to have his reservations. SPOILER WARNING! DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU HAVE NOT YET SEEN THE FILM: An intriguing paradox within the film is that the surveillance of Georg, which is an absolute violation of his privacy, actually leads to Gerd’s turnabout and to Georg’s ultimate freedom from the Stasi. The end of the film is absolutely beautiful and heart wrenching: when the bookseller asks Gerd whether he should wrap Georg’s new novel as a present, he replies that it isn’t necessary because it is for him. But his reply is ambiguous: not only does he buy the novel for himself, but also is the novel actually dedicated to Gerd and a present for him from Georg. It is Georg’s way of thanking him, for if Gerd hadn’t hidden the typewriter, Georg might have been interrogated, isolated and altered by the Stasi, and unable to ever write again.
The film, to me, is also a lamentation of lost love. Gerd’s loyalty to the Stasi might have permitted him from finding a love of his own. I think that is why he is so intrigued by this couple and becomes so entangled in their lives. And also why he seeks company in the arms of prostitutes. Christa-Maria’s betrayal of Georg is also very sad to me: first she sells herself to Minister Bruno to ensure that she can keep on working on the German stage, then she actually breaks down under interrogation and gives away Georg’s secret hiding place. It is not really for me to judge – abnormal circumstances force people to make irrational choices. She must never have been forced to make such a decision in the first place. But the fact remains that she did make her choice and that her artistry was more important to her than her love for Georg. How sad. SPOILERS END HERE.
Genre: Drama
Running time: 137 min
Country: Germany
Language: German
Director: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
Writing credits: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
Producers: Max Wiedemann
Quirin Berg
Cinematographer: Hagen Bogdanski
Editor: Patricia Rommel
Music:Gabriel Yared
Stephane Moucha
Main Cast:
Hauptmann Gerd Wiesler – Ulrich Mühe
Georg Dreyman – Sebastian Koch
Oberstleutnant Anton Grubitz – Ulrich Tukur
Christa-Maria Sieland – Martina Gedeck
Paul Hauser – Hans-Uwe Bauer
Minister Bruno Hempf – Thomas Thieme
