A Masterwork Of Pristine Quality That Deserves A Broader Audience!

Rating: Null/10 (9 August 2015)

Winner of Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, The Lives of Others has a very serene ambiance when compared to other entries in the spy genre which are usually filled with chases, action or violence for this German drama tries to paint an authentic portrait of life in East Germany and is a silent observation of human nature.
Set in 1980s East Germany, the story of The Lives of Others (also known as Das Leben der Anderen) focuses on the monitoring of East Berlin by agents of the Stasi; the secret police, and concerns an agent who's tasked to conduct a surveillance on a writer & his lover, but over the course of his duty ends up becoming too infatuated with their lives.
Written & directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, The Lives of Others is crafted in an incredibly calm n composed manner, and presents the filmmaker in firm grip of the story he attempts to bring to life on the film canvas, which sounds even more astonishing when noted that it is his directional debut. And the proper execution of other aspects only work out in its favour.
Set pieces & locations do evoke an authentic-looking atmosphere of East Germany. The camera-work is carefully employed as the movements are static for the most part, use of lighting & colour tones is skilfully done, and the drama is captured in fine detail. Editing unfolds its 137 minutes of runtime at a very relaxed pace, and the performances by its entire cast is simply outstanding.
On an overall scale, The Lives of Others is an engaging drama that manages to create & sustain its tension amazingly well, gets better as the plot progresses, and concludes its tale in a very satisfying manner. The script is definitely its biggest strength and rest of the stuff is wonderfully handled too but its glacial pace & quietness did bother me at times. Not as rewarding as I expected it to be but definitely a work of pristine quality that deserves a broader audience.