It's a masterpiece

Rating: 9/10 (7 May 2007)

East Germany. 1984. Hauptmann Gerd Wiesler (played by Ulrich Mühe) is a stasi agent ordered to monitor a successful playwright Georg Dreyman (played by Sebastian Koch). Wiesler is quiet, methodical, dedicated and professional. He believes in what he is doing. He is also lonely and a man who empty on the inside. As time goes by, the lives of Dreyman and Dreyman's girlfriend Christa-Maria Sieland (played by Martina Gedeck) start to impact on him and then, in at first very subtle ways, he starts to impact on them.
It was the second time I attempted to see "Leben der Anderen, Das". The first time the projector broke down with half an hour to go. (To be honest, a crucial half an hour, detailing the dramatic end of the main story, the rise of Gorbachev, the fall of Communism, the reunification of Germany and the reconciliation of Germany's past. Big subjects.) I'm glad I made the effort.
"Leben der Anderen, Das" is a great movie. Brilliantly written and acted. A worthy winner of the Foreign Film Oscar this year. Incredibly moving and tragic and thoughtful and startling. My lady was in tears by the end of it. The best movies are movies about people. Very important to understand how true that is.
I heard that there is an American remake in the works.
Oh, go away... For God's sake...