Multifaceted spy drama

Rating: 10/10 (21 August 2010)

With The Lives of Others (Das Leben der Anderen), debuting director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck crafts a simultaneously gripping and intelligent political drama about an agent for East Germany's secret police. Just as a Stasi agent finds himself irrevocably drawn into the lives of the couple he's spying on, so does Donnersmarck compel his viewers into an oh-so meticulously crafted piece set in pre-unified Germany, five years before the Berlin Wall's crumbling. Capt. Wiesler, played by the late Ulrich Mühe with an eerie adeptness, is assigned to conduct a covert surveillance on playwright Georg Dreyman (Sebastian Koch) and his girlfriend, actress Christa-Maria Sieland (Martina Gedeck). Wiesler initially carries out his task with such calculated efficiency, but gradually finds himself pulled into an emotional web that slowly peels away his impassive facade. In the same way, Donnersmarck lets The Lives of Others unfold into a beautifully structured story that's powerfully told and populated with richly defined characters. It's at once a chilling reminiscence of a recent part in German history and a touching portrait of the human social network.