Anssi Vartiainen A Stasi trainer, Captain Gerd Wiesler (Ulrich Mühe), is ordered to place a famous play writer Georg Dreyman (Sebastian Koch) and his girlfriend Christa-Maria Sieland (Martina Gedeck) under constant surveillance. The orders come from the highest echelons of the government, but Wiesler slowly begins to understand that the motives for them may not be as patriotic as they should. And at the same time the life of these two content souls begins to lure him in.Despite this film being just over a decade old, it feels much older. And in this case that works in the film's favour, giving it an authentic feel, like it could have happened right there and then. it gives the film weight, which is good, because Stasi and their human right violations are some of the darkest aspects of East German history. And yet, at the same time the film tries to shy away from black and white moralizing. Wiesler's character, despite being a high-ranking Stasi officer, is not a monster, does posses a soul and certainly has his sympathetic moments. This has apparently caused certain amount of controversy, some believing that Stasi and its legacy should be shown no mercy, no sympathy. Which seems uncomfortably harsh to me.Then again, I was only a few months old when the Berlin Wall came down. For me, this is history, something that happened in the distant past. It's funny for me to think that the events of this film took place when my parents were teenagers or young adults. The world has certainly changed since then.For me this film is more interesting than it is good. Certainly it's acted well and directing is superb, but it still seems more like a gateway into a subject, a conversation starter, rather than a great movie in its own right.

AydinTastan Agent Wiesler initially appears to the audience as the polar opposite of Koch's character. With his grey button down clothing, closely cropped hair and consistently emotionless face he symbolises everything about the overbearing untrusting Socialist government of East Germany that is wrong. He could easily have remained that character throughout the whole film but he becomes the surprising emotional centre of the story and the line between heroes and villains is significantly shifted (something which extends to the supporting cast as well.

resireg-31415 I just love cold war movies, but this one is seen not from the American/British perspective, but from the people who were on the other side of the Iron Curtain.In the movie, we get an idea of how it was to live in a country that feels like a prison (first rule: if you try to emigrate, they will probably arrest you, torture you, and even kill you or if you succeed, go after your family and friends). Despite so much oppression and terror, there is some intellectual life, with plays, music, books and some discreet bohemian life. But the problem is that the secret police is everywhere, and being a freethinker will cause you trouble. The movie is essentially about an efficient police operative, who slowly regains his humanity tries to help a couple that is going to be arrested soon, and he is the one responsible for spying on them. The movie is a piece of fiction (we don't know whether there were cases of good Samaritans among East German police), but it feels almost like a documentary. I was happy that they won the Academy award for best foreign movie.

Matt M The Lives of Others shows the ways in which the Stasi manipulated and intruded on the lives of East German citizens. The strength of this portrait is in its portrayal of Haupmann Gerd Wiesler as surprisingly human. But: what does it mean to be human? A recurring theme in German history is that of humanity and evil: are evil people human, or monsters? Or are humans really just evil? Such questions come up repeatedly throughout the film. Georg Dreymann and his girlfriend Christa-Marie Sieland are the primary objects of surveillance throughout the movie. Dreymann is a playwright known for his humanistic portrayals—his plays are, in the words of Minister Hempf, optimistic and full of hope. Hempf replies to this by telling Dreymann that "people don't change (themselves)." The tension between Dreymann's worldview and that of Hempf plays out in Wiesler's character development. At the beginning of the film, Wiesler matches Hempf, as he tirelessly and zealously seeks out "arrogant" enemies of the state. His perception of humanity is that they must be monitored carefully. It is as if Wiesler considers himself something inhuman, and this is evidenced by his Spartan existence. Even his haircut appears severe; his apartment is empty, and his kitchen bare. Wiesler knows nothing of the comforts of home, or family, or love. Yet, as the film develops, he begins to desperately seek the things he encounters in the lives of others. First, he seeks substitutes and living vicariously, hiring a prostitute and entering Dreymann's and Sieland's apartment just to experience it. However, he later takes on a more active role, sympathizing with Dreymann and the other playwrights, and even their subversive activities. The climax of Wiesler's development comes at the death of Dreymann's friend and colleague Albert Jerska. Dreymann plays The Sonata for a Good Man. "Can anyone who has heard this music— really heard it—be a bad person?," Dreymann asks. Wiesler, with a tear streaming down his face as he hears the music through his headphones, has heard the music. Wiesler eventually pays the price for his sympathy with his career. At the fall of the Berlin Wall, he is found opening letters in a windowless basement; when he learns of the end of the wall, he walks out, abandoning the GDR for good. Meanwhile, in the coming years, Dreymann discovers that whoever was monitoring him had helped him escape certain imprisonment—a man identified only by his name HGW XX/7. He dedicates a novel, The Sonata for a Good Man, to HGW XX/7. Wiesler, working as a postman, sees the book in a bookstore and reads the note from Dreymann. As Wiesler takes the book up to the counter, the cashier asks if he wants it gift wrapped. "No," Wiesler says, "it's for me." Overall, the film is one of the best-done works I have ever seen. Typical of German cinema, it's incredibly deep and thoughtful, and leaves a strong impression. The Lives of Others is one of the saddest movies, but also one of the best.