"The Lives of Others" (Language - German) (2006) - Movie Review

How often does any one see a movie which appreciates art in an artful way? There have been many direct appreciation of art in a movie, but how to go about a person who spent his life believing in one system tends to shift to the other side of spectrum? This film which starts as a revolutionary story takes a turn in appreciating art in an unusual environment by an unusual audience member. In the process of presenting it, they share the emotions, betrayal, trust and the love around their life of art through the three interesting characters.

It is 1984 in East Germany and the Stasi are monitoring potential candidates for expressing Western leanings. The department assigns the best man in force who walks talks and express without any emotions straight as an arrow, Hauptmann Gerd Wiesler (Ulrich Mühe). He is introduced when he addresses a class of interrogation officer aspirants about the nuances of the skill to extract information without any physical abuse. There is a shadow of doubts towards the popular and successful writer Georg Dreyman (Sebastian Koch). He lives along with his girl friend, Christa-Maria Seiland (Martina Gedeck) who also performs in his play. The Stasi in suspicion over the writer allocates Wiesler to have surveillance on Georg’s house.

What starts as a career upgrade mission for Wiesler turns into a life changing expose to art and love he has never seen. His suppressed emotions are unlocked by the words and love of Georg. His surveillance turns into a do-gooder for these two people. His life of loneliness is the complete opposite of the characteristics of Georg. Georg is a man of people. He wants continuous contact with another human being. When he is not getting it, he writes about those memorable gatherings and the unspoken love. Christa on the other hand is an ambitious career actress and one who dies inside every time she cheats her love. She goes of a sexual affair with the Minister who very well allocated Wiesler through his superior to watch Georg. This troubles Wiesler and wants to do something. What triggers him is not explained but maybe his empathy for a cheated soul. But he is amazed to see the reaction of Georg about this and his understanding of the love and reasoning of Christa. Wiesler gets touched emotionally and from there on; he takes the extreme dangerous risks to make these people’s lives better.

The movie does not act on scenes fast enough for a script which poses as a cat and mouse game in most of the parts of it. It puzzled me and kind of a slight frustration on why to show case such a thriller as an emotional ride. But when the near ended and the members of the audience know that this is crossing the stage of a normal struggle of revolutionizing a nation, it all started make sense. The movie is not alone about the struggles of a writer finding it hard to put a two face to sneak his creativity to his audience. It is also the unspoken and unknown bond of these three characters. In a way, no one ever characteristically sees each other clearly. Wiesler of course is the clear physical absence in front of these troubled yet loving couple. Georg is not able to grasp the instincts and the inner confusion of career vs love vs life of Christa. Christa knows this but does not want to open up clearly about this to Georg. Some where she is not able to create the trust in him. Georg on the other hand believes in trust bringing his love back which is true but it needs more words from his mouth than on his paper. In these three characters that are connected by their love towards art, forms this to be an interesting piece of presentation.

There may be definite doubt over the change of course on Wiesler. He is shown as a person who has technically kept his emotions out of the equation over any kind of his actions. He some how has spent so much time in interrogating people and understanding their deepest secrets, he lost his own sense of character in it. Till the date he witnesses an art performance his life is devoid of any feeling. Or his feelings were either shatter by a failed love or demand of character by the job. He gets a slight gentle shake to wake those emotions up. He wants the same kind of love shared in between Christa and Georg for him. He does not envy their life but appreciates it. He wants the same to be his life. He tries it with a prostitute who as expected becomes methodical and numb. He realizes that his life has gone and does not want the existing relations to shatter by his reporting to his authorities about the real plan of Georg.

The film renders the emotional wave of frames for the final twenty minutes. The previous two hours forms the base in which the audiences are comfortable and expects shaking hands and hugging with tears to happen in between these characters. What happens is a poetic and artistic expression of one’s love and enormous indebt to the other. There is a sensation of comfortable drunkenness in a help getting recognized and also leading the life in an unappreciated way. Whatever it is, sacrifice does have its content and enjoyment. Wiesler is in the state of that sacrifice with the sensation of it. Every one will have a theory on why Georg does not want to go and shake hands with the man who saved his life. That’s the perceptive conception left intentionally by the director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck. What becomes essentially the movie’s cornerstone is the final two minutes of Wiesler’s honest expression of his emotions. That one line to the book store guy is, “The Lives of Others”.