Magnificent

Rating: 10/10 (11 May 2007)

SPOILERS Communism is a failing theory. Surviving in China, history and the occasional student's misguided views, this bastardised socialism has all but fallen from existence. An ideal based system corrupted by the human need to be someone's superior, the theory cannot survive when put into practice.
Like most other "isms", Communism also remained fearful of alternative thought. Just like how Fascist Germany had the Gestapo to monitor people, so Communist East Germany (1945-1989) had the Staci. Believing that they should know everything about everyone, the Staci at their prime had most of the population working for them. In Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's "The Lives of Others", we focus on one fictional member of this group and the realisation of the true nature of his beliefs.
Hauptmann Gerd Wiesler (Ulrich Muhe) has been a Staci member for twenty years. A quiet man, his ability to interrogate individuals and get the truth is respected and regularly used by his superiors. Yet when sent in to monitor a loyal writer, Georg Dreyman (Sebastian Koch), Wiesler begins, through the lives of others, to doubt and question everything he stands for.
A worthy Oscar winner, "The Lives of Others" is a reminder of just how dangerous certain establishments can be. Beautifully demonstrating the dull mechanised state created by an all controlling regime, it captures our minds and shows just how the allure of a bright, passionate, free world (dressed mostly in vivid reds) is so unnerving to the powers that be.
Whether in the general organisation and decoration of a location, or the way the people are taught to speak, Donnersmarck's film is perfect at showing two contrasting worlds. Everything in Wiesler's world is so stale and plain, that even when he tries to inject passion into this surrounding, he fails. Compare this however to the free, flamboyant life of Dreyman the artist, and you begin to reach for the same lifestyle, you begin to understand what Wiesler so yearns for.
Two scenes in this film which stands out as truly outstanding and which demonstrate this comparison involve sex. At one point in our movie, Wiesler is sat listening in and is absorbed as Dreyman and his girlfriend are hooked passionately together. Yearning for this close feel and the passion of the environment, Wiesler hires a prostitute. As he sits in his dull, emotionless room, and buries his head into the prostitutes breasts, he is crying out for a connection, for a link. He of course never receives this, and when the prostitute ups and leaves due to another client in thirty minutes, our hearts bleed for Wiesler. Here is a man who we are meant to despair and dislike, and yet through a combination of mood, writing and acting, we struggle not to root for his every success.
If anything, these scenes are the epitome of the film. They capture the essence of the whole concept and they are perfect. Whether it is the outstanding soundtrack, the passion of the story, the acting, the cinematography, every element of the film is defined to a tee here.
"The Lives of Others" is magnificent. Beautiful to watch, and thoroughly enjoyable, I would recommend it to everyone. It is a reminder of a time when people were monitored by the oppressive state, and a reminder of why Communism ultimately fails. There are few films out this year that will come close to matching this title, and none with such relevant political views. Go out and see this today.