"If you don't take a stand, you're not human."

Rating: 9/10 (23 August 2014)

Set in 1984 East Berlin, "The Lives of Others" focuses on a man, Hauptmann Gerd Wiesler (Ulrich Muhe), who undergoes a gradual transformation that ultimately ends in tragedy for the 'enemies of socialism' he originally sets out to investigate. That transformation occurs painstakingly over time and with no single event to make him change his mind. Instead, Weisler gains a gradual understanding of human beings who value artistic creativity and freedom along with an insight into what makes them tick. The story takes a remarkable turn when the investigator becomes part of the investigation, and is exiled to a proletarian job within the bureaucracy of the Stasi controlled government. Filmed less than a decade ago, the ironies consistent with present day surveillance techniques of the NSA, Google-mapping, and insidious tracking of every keystroke (including these) are a chilling prophecy of mind and thought control unimaginable even in "1984".