The Lives of Others was 2007?s Best Foreign Language Film winner and I totally agree with that. Despite most people believing Pans Labyrinth was a sure winner, for me this is just far superior in every respect. For a start the film lives up to the trailer. What I saw in the trailer was exactly what was in the film and more. Just the perfect film in ever respect and just a flawless piece of work. I?m not completely familiar with the context behind this film, only bits and pieces. I was about one when the Berlin Wall came down and only studied parts of the GDR whilst studying German. Now I gain a full picture of exactly what happened. This in turn shows just how brilliantly it depicts life under GDR rule and the situations that many people faced at that time. The Lives of Others towers above many German films that I?ve seen this decade. The artistic flair. Pace and the direction just make it one of the best films of this decade as well.
What is amazing that this is director; Florian Henckel-Donnersmarck?s debut. Just incredibly hard to comprehend that such attention to detail, characters, script pacing of the film is just magnificent. The attention to detail of every scene, for instance the interrogation chamber to the scenes in which Ulrich Muhe?s character is observing Sebastian?s Koch is once again just brilliant. There are also some fine examples of editing, with Dreyman and in which we see Dreyman and Wiesler, with the observation scenes. What I just loved was the inter-cutting of the two scenes with the attention to every frame, witted with the brilliant music you hear on the trailer. Just some fine examples of film-making, which I wish we see more often. It?s such a shame that this wasn?t given a wider release. It was not at my local cinema, but at the nearest area specialised in Art House cinema. It really deserved to have a wider release, to just show the context of the film and depict it to a wider audience. Just such a shame films like this aren?t given a wider release.
The Lives of Other?s is a well crafted thriller and quickly grasps the underlying social and psychological factors of the context within the film. Dreyman is an elegant, dashing figure, who is dating a prominent figure within the Art world. Wiesler is a more preserved character, who believes in what he is doing and the political aspect to it. However further into the film there are changes which I won?t give too much away. What is chilling is the seemingly normal life that each member of the stasi Police believes this to be. This in turn is depicted but the brilliant photography of ?80?s Germany. You feel transported to that era and feel engaged with every scene in the film.
The acting in this film is just magnificent. Ulrich Muhe?s performance is just incredible. I know that he was filming whilst suffering from Stomach Cancer, which is just not noticeable on screen. His performance is so captivating that he?s the character of the film that you pay more attention to right from the beginning of the film up until the end. Also a notable mention to Martina Gedeck and Sebastian Koch, who also did superbly well.
I don?t want to give too much away but the ending of the film is one that I did not expect at all. For a start I almost shed a tear and just hoe emotional it was. Just showing how well crafted the characters were into his film. You just relate to them so so well.