A highly masterful rendition of good old-fashioned human decency that is both compelling and thought provoking!

Rating: 9/10 (8 February 2008)

Set mostly in the 1980s and during the cold war, Das Leben der Anderen tells of the world created by the Stasi (the internal army by which the Socialist Unity Party kept control of the German Democratic Republic, aka GDR) and how GDR citizens lived in a world of repression. A state security captain, Gerd Wiesler (Ulrich Muhn), is an expert in interrogating dissidents and is assigned the case of spying on a playwright called Georg Dreyman (Sebastian Koch). It is for this reason (of being a playwright) that he is put under surveillance. As Weisler's investigation progresses he becomes unwittingly aware of his own limited existence and empathy for those he watches ensues, taking precedence over his obedience and loyalty to the Stasi  so much so that he begins to falsify documents and lie about events in Dreyman's life. Regarding the films treatment of the Stasi, Das Leben der Anderen has caused controversy upon its release, especially in Germany with people comparing the members of the Stasi to that of the Gestapo, 40 years previous. Recent German history is littered with examples of the Stasi's uncompromising approach  some of which are still coming to fruition. In brief the Stasi spied on, imprisoned, and ruined the lives of anyone it chose and in the immediate aftermath of the war there were a lot of deaths or "liquidations" of opponents. In later years the Stasi abandoned this approach in favour of psychological torture and exile. They would routinely brake into peoples flats, steal underwear (to be bottled as odour samples) for identification purposes and use psychotropic drugs on those under house arrest, this would mostly happen due to tip offs from fellow GDR citizens turned informers, as once an informer certain liberties would follow. Artists and those of a creative nature (writers, poets, journalist etc) were a favoured choice of the Stasi and their work was often either stifled, scrutinised, compromised or even destroyed  similarities with the manner in which Nazi's burned books are blatantly apparent; the film also makes plenty of references to books being a source of provocation. Because of all this GDR citizens lived in world of fear and paranoia, as individuals they were afraid and suspicious of all those they met. It was, without question, a totalitarian society.
Das Leben der Anderen is very low budget, but it is outstandingly written capturing the essence of people's feelings at the time  with some great lines being ironically delivered by a government minister, the greatest line in the film though has to be the last because of its emotional connotations. The direction and the cinematography capture a sombre and monotonous East Germany with its drab lighting and muted colours, perfectly illustrating the despondency of its citizens. Performances throughout the film are excellent, Gerd Weislers girlfriend Christa-Maria (Martina Gedeck) is a joy to watch, most notably the uncomfortable anxiety she displays during a scene in the back of a taxi cab manages to be felt by all those watching as does her expression of guilt and betrayal towards the end of the film. The greatest performance however comes from Ulrich Muhn. The opening scene in Das Leben der Anderen shows him lecturing some students on the art of integration; he plays them a cassette of one of his own interrogations. The man on the tape complains of being tired, to which a student declares that it is inhuman to deny him his sleep. Wielser scribbles a mark next to the students name before he retorts  this act alludes to the possibility that this individual will face some sort of punishment for his remark. Weisler continues teaching and, in accordance with the cassette, states that a guilty man will become quiet and reiterate his rehearsed lies, whilst an innocent man will shout and scream. This behaviour and this carefully constructed scene beautifully underpins the Stasi regime, it sets forth and establishes the type of character Weisler is, whilst allowing for the understanding that any deviation from this way of thinking results in you becoming an enemy.
Das Leben der Anderen is an outstanding accomplishment because of its proficiency at utilising old-fashioned narratives and placing them into a malevolent world - that was once real. Unfortunately it tells of a story that did not occur (the director and his researchers underwent four years of research for the film and could not find one example of a Stasi man empathisising with dissidents or even suspected dissidents) and although accurate in many other areas the films core values are untrue and almost propagandarous. To assume that a man like Weisler could change his beliefs questions the very understandings of a totalitarian state, it ignores historical accuracy to feed cinema's desire to misrepresent and fabricate history for the purpose of entertainment and it is this that is simultaneously the films strength and its weakness. In a nutshell the film is about hope, it is a word that is mentioned a lot and it is something that propels the characters and narrative forward and it is how the story finally resolves itself - by pandering to this sense of hope. Despite its short comings, Das Leben der Anderen is one of the first films to look back at the GDR and not reminisce or gain humour from it ("Good Bye, Lenin!", 2003) and it treats them with heavier hand than many other German films to date, but it also lets them off lightly. I am a strong believer in film as an art form and had the film been more truthful to itself then it would have been an incredible piece of art, but in sticking with recent trends laid out by current German film-makers (a common attribute of New German Cinema) the film has fused both art and entertainment thus leading to Das Leben der Anderen being just an incredible piece of entertainment.