150 Word Review: 'The Lives Of Others' (2006)
Subpar allies
The hero of this movie is an East German playwright in the 1980s who gradually finds the courage to write about and challenge the German Democratic Republic, a brutal Soviet ally.
There’s another hero: a taciturn, serious-minded Stasi officer, part of a pervasive secret police force that spied on citizens and maintained a vast network of informants, who slowly realizes the system he’s devoted his life to is unjust.
This German-language political thriller won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2006 and remains timely today. Directed with emotional discipline by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, The Lives of Others vividly recreates a society built on paranoia and distrust, where freedom of speech and privacy barely existed. Ulrich Mühe delivers a defining performance as the devoted Stasi officer. Martina Gedeck is heartbreaking as an actress torn between loyalty to her boyfriend, her community, and the whims of sadistic bureaucrats.