has its flaws, still an important film to see

Rating: 7/10 (9 July 2007)

The real surprise on the 2007 Oscar’s had to go to, The Lives of Others, winning over the crowd favourite, Pan’s Labyrinth in the foreign language category. Maybe seeing The Lives of Others after this surprise win, when having back the crowd favourite, makes viewing hard, but all Oscar tid bits aside, The Lives of Others is a competent debut from writer/director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck. In 1984, when Germany is split into the East and West, member of The Stasi; government secret police, Hauptmann Gerd Wiesler is their top interrogator, and is compelled to surveillance play writer Georg Dreyman and his wife/actress, Christa-Maria Sieland, who seem to fit all the markings of a loyalist, but Wiesler and friend Anton Grubitz suspect a liar and a traitor. Wiesler heads the surveillance on Dreyman, though as Wiesler become more a voyeur of this couple, and Dreyman’s workings with the West, Wiesler is entranced by them, turning a traitor himself to save these two from Grubitz and the government. The Lives of Others is a grim reminder of life in a Totalitarian regime, nods to Big Brother and Orwell’s 1984. Donnersmarck writes with competence, utilising some provocative subject matter and some thrilling moments. The draw back is he doesn’t keep this at an even pace, dragging at times, though enough tightly executed scenes rise above this. There is a quite interesting scene with Wiesler and a child inside an elevator, and though Donnersmarck takes his time getting there, the coda and final moment is so poignant and heart felt. Performances all round are top notch, most notable are from Ulrich Mühe, saying so much with his expressionless demeanour as Wiesler, and Sebastian Koch as Georg Dreyman. Hagen Bogdanski’s cinematography and Donnersmarck’s direction are impressive, with their still and restrained shots, penetrating scenes with a tight atmosphere. The Lives of Others, is an impressive debut from Donnersmarck, and though it’s major flaw is it’s length and loses it’s grip occasionally, The Lives of Others is still an important film to see, and should be seen.