The Lives of Others (2006)
"Das Leben der Anderen" (original title)

In 1984 East Berlin, an agent of the secret police, conducting surveillance on a writer and his lover, finds himself becoming increasingly absorbed by their lives.

Director:

Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck

Writer:

Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck

Stars:

Martina Gedeck, Ulrich Mühe, Sebastian Koch

Top 250 #64 | Won 1 Oscar. Another 66 wins & 25 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Martina Gedeck	...	Christa-Maria Sieland
Ulrich Mühe	...	Hauptmann Gerd Wiesler
Sebastian Koch	...	Georg Dreyman
Ulrich Tukur	...	Oberstleutnant Anton Grubitz
Thomas Thieme	...	Minister Bruno Hempf
Hans-Uwe Bauer	...	Paul Hauser
Volkmar Kleinert	...	Albert Jerska
Matthias Brenner	...	Karl Wallner
Charly Hübner	...	Udo
Herbert Knaup	...	Gregor Hessenstein
Bastian Trost	...	Häftling 227
Marie Gruber	...	Frau Meineke
Volker Michalowski	...	Schriftexperte (as Zack Volker Michalowski)
Werner Daehn	...	Einsatzleiter in Uniform
Martin Brambach	...	Einsatzleiter Meyer

Storyline

In the early 1980s, Georg Dreyman (a successful dramatist) and his longtime companion Christa-Maria Sieland (a popular actress), were huge intellectual stars in (former) East Germany, although they secretly don't always toe the party line. One day, the Minister of Culture becomes interested in Christa, so the secret service agent Wiesler is instructed to observe and sound out the couple, but their life fascinates him more and more.

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Plot Keywords:

party | secret police | germany | actress | 1980s | 

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Taglines:

Before the Fall of the Berlin Wall, East Germany's Secret Police Listened to Your Secrets

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some sexuality/nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [United States]

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

23 March 2006 (Germany)

Also Known As:

The Lives of Others

Filming Locations:

Gedenkstätte Hohenschönhausen, Hohenschönhausen, Berlin, Germany

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£223,586 (UK) (13 April 2007)

Gross:

$11,284,657 (USA) (7 September 2007)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Arte, Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR), Creado Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

137 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film set a record in 2006 for getting the most nominations (11) for the German Film Awards ever.

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Goofs

In the final interrogation of Sieland by Wiesler, he sketches the floor plan in about 5 seconds, and definitely doesn't have time to make the double thickness lines, markers for windows, and door swing arcs. It in fact looks like at least two different pencils were used in the final sketch. His final stroke before showing her the sketch is circular in motion, with no circles to be found in the final.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Guard: [subtitled version] Stand still. Eyes to the floor.
[pause]
Guard: Walk on.

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Connections

Featured in Pauw & Witteman: Episode #4.59 (2009)

User Reviews

Brilliant and terrifying!

After several light features (like the highly successful "Good-bye Lenin"), who evoked a popular nostalgia, it was about time that the dark past of the DDR is finally the topic of a movie. Not that I condemn light entertainment. There surely were plenty of happy times for the people in the DDR as well as in every other society. But, just like in the Biedermeier time at the beginning of the 19th century in middle Europe, the DDR was controlled by an omnipresent secret service, the Stasi, which forced people to be quiet about their true feelings. Considering this, the cry for the good old' times is simply inappropriate.

The movie tells the story of Stasi agent Wiesler (brilliant Ulrich Mühe), who follows his guidelines with chilling accuracy. His newest assignment is to wiretapping famed author Georg Dreyman (Sebastian Koch) and his companion, actress Christa-Maria Sieland (Martina Gedeck). Listening to their conversations, he gets more and more caught in their lives.

Wiesler, as he is played here by Ulrich Mühe, is not an individual, but a symbol for the whole system, where people did everything they were told to do. Clad only in gray and brown, filmed in stark and cold light, he's at first not capable of feelings. On the other hand Dreymann and Sieland represent the anti-Establishment, the intellectuals, who were severely hunted, arrested and killed by the government.

The most frightening aspect here is the banality of it all. The offices are bleak, the people talk about bugging operations etc. with a frighting causality. These men in grey look, talk and behave like boring civil servants, and their approach, the "normality" of their job makes it terribly chilling.

Director Florian Henckel-Donnersmarck is also able to recreate a feeling of constant observance and spying. In a disturbing scene a harmless joke becomes the center of suspicion and fear. We can glimpse how it must have been for citizens of the DDR, to live with constant suppression of their free will and opinion.

As important it is, not to forget the good things and memories people might have of their past, it's also important not to forget or to reduce the impact and fear that this regime put on their people for 40 years.