In 1984 East Berlin, a Stasi (secret police) agent is assigned to listen in on the bugged house of a playwright and his girlfriend; the agent gets drawn into their lives, with dramatic consequences.

CRITIQUE

The Lives of Others is a German-Language film that won the Oscar as Best Foreign Language Film in 2006; it deals with the secret police in East Berlin in the early 80s, and one agent who starts to lose his faith in the Socialist system that he’d so long believed in.  The result is solid; though it’s a little too long at 137 minutes, there are some very memorable sequences here, and the result is a movie that will stay with me for a while.

The main character here is Wiesler (Ulrich Muhe, who sort of reminds one of Stanley Tucci), a balding, lonely man whose only life is being a Stasi agent.  Wiesler’s life changes when he becomes smitten with beautiful actress Christa, who is living with playwright Dreyman.  Wiesler gets himself assigned to Dreyman’s surveillance, spending 12 hours a day in the attic of Dreyman’s building, listening to what is going on in his apartment; he also becomes more disenchanted with his job when he realizes that the surveillance is only because a Stasi official wants Christa for himself.

That’s really only the first fifteen minutes here; the rest of the tale deals with how Wiesler gets drawn into these characters’ lives, and the actions that he takes.  The result is an interesting way to tell a dramatic story; not only do we have Christa and Dreyman’s own drama as it is unfolding, but it is all filtered through the POV, which adds an additional layer of drama and meaning to it all.

I won’t spoil any more of it by revealing any more plot twists, but things get even more intriguing along the way.  The movie does drag in spots, and the last ten minutes could have easily been lost, but there is a lot here that works really well, and the result is worth checking out.

THE VIDEO

The Lives of Others is presented in 2.35:1 widescreen.  The visuals are solid throughout, and the transfer is good.

THE AUDIO

The Lives of Others is presented in German 5.1 Dolby Digital.  Dialogue, music and sound effects come through clear.  There are English, French and Spanish subtitles.

THE EXTRAS

There’s an Audio Commentary by writer/director Florian Henckel Von Donnersmarck, who speaks English clearly, without hint of an accent.  The commentary is chatty but informative, and is very good of its kind.

There’s a 30-minute Interview with Von Donnersmarck, who talks about developing the storyline, as well as the color palate of the film, in which they didn’t use reds or blues.

There’s a 19-minute Making Of Featurette in which the cast and crew are interviewed about the film; it is in German, with English subtitles.

There are almost 9 minutes of Deleted Scenes, which are generally-solid; they were just cut for pacing reasons.  All have optional commentary by the director.

FINAL THOUGHT