The Lives of Others
Das Leben der Anderen
Germany
2006
137 Min
Color
2.35:1
German
Synopsis
In 1984, Communist East Germany, every kind of human action is strictly controlled and monitored by the government. Captain Gerd Wiesler is one of the top agents of the stage police, and for his next mission he must spy on a playwright who might be a threat to the government in the future. Captain Wiesler moves into a new apartment a floor above the writer and starts to record in-detail the everyday life of him and his girlfriend. Yet as Captain Wiesler spies on the couple, he forms an unusual platonic bond with them, which will, ultimately, not only change his life, but also the lives of the others surrounding him…
Director
Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
Florian Maria Georg Christian, Graf Henckel von Donnersmarck (born 2 May 1973) is an Academy Award-winning Austrian-German director and screenwriter.
In 1996, he won a directing internship with Richard Attenborough on In Love and War, and then went to study at the Fiction Directing Class of the Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film München (University of Television and Film Munich), Germany, alma mater of directors as diverse as Wim Wenders and Roland Emmerich.
His first short film, Dobermann (which Donnersmarck wrote, produced, directed and edited) broke the school record for the number of awards won by a student production. It became an international festival sensation, and Donnersmarck travelled the festival circuit for over a year. His first feature film Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others) won the European Film Award for Best Film, Best Actor and Best Screenplay in 2006. Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck went on to win the Los Angeles… read more
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ΞRIC B∆D TASTΞ
1May13
"Ach leck mich doch am Arsch, ich bin jetzt im Westen." a very wonderful, emotional & tragic movie. how people can change, if they see behind the curtain & understand other people.
Neither/Nor
1May13
The sonata is codified in the film itself, death controlled by etiolated screens of attention; last words are uttered, scattered, reassembled. In this way it's not a thriller at all, but a synesthetic allegory: art teases permanence out from an unimpaired breeze of fragility--the audience: capitulated living: the announcement of suicides--: we must flourish: what we are a part of and what is not ours.
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DAS LEBEN DER ANDEREN / THE LIVES OF OTHERS: a review from IFFR 2007
By Twitchfilm.com on May 17, 2011
Last Saturday “Das Leben der Anderen“ won the KPN Audience Award at IFFR 2007. It is also the biggest chance of “Pan’s Labyrinth” NOT winning the Oscar for Best Foreign Picture. The end of the movie gave
DAS LEBEN DER ANDEREN / THE LIVES OF OTHERS: a review from IFFR 2007
By Twitchfilm.net on September 1, 2010
Last Saturday “Das Leben der Anderen“ won the KPN Audience Award at IFFR 2007. It is also the biggest chance of “Pan’s Labyrinth” NOT winning the Oscar for Best Foreign Picture. The end of the movie gave
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BEST FIRST FEATURE SINCE "CITIZEN KANE"
By PARIS MTN SCOUT on June 15, 2011
Growing up in Reagan’s America, we pitied those who were living behind the so-called “iron curtain.” We spoke of our freedom and democracy as people who know only what has always been.
THE LIVES… read review
Untitled
By baddaboom on May 26, 2009
His name is Ulrich Muhe. The director (Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck) says he is Germany’s best actor. For this film he could very well be the best actor in the world. A performance of such profound… read review
Untitled
By Laina Barakat on March 26, 2009
I agree that it is beautifully paced. you have the opportunity to sink into the film and become involved in (to be quite frank) the lives of others. the stark contrast between the very non-human lifeless… read review
Untitled
By jaredmobarak on November 26, 2008
Many people were startled by the fact that Pan’s Labyrinth lost the Best Foreign Film Oscar to its fellow nominee The Lives of Others. Granted, many hadn’t seen the German film yet, however, I think… read review
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