"The Lives of Others" , "Das Leben der Anderen"
German Director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck has made a wonderfully haunting film. I saw it this afternoon in a discount cinema here in Cologne. I had read about it but never had the chance to see the film. HH is with his Aunt this weekend so when the opportunity presented itself I took it.
Even if you don't speak German, and mine is not that great, you can't help but be taken in by this film. The work of Ulrich Muhe as an East German Secret Police Officer is simply brilliant - I've not seen a better performance in a film. The pacing, the set design, acting and the story its all work in telling this tale about what passed for life in the German East before the fall of the wall.
I hope you get a chance to see it ...
Even if you don't speak German, and mine is not that great, you can't help but be taken in by this film. The work of Ulrich Muhe as an East German Secret Police Officer is simply brilliant - I've not seen a better performance in a film. The pacing, the set design, acting and the story its all work in telling this tale about what passed for life in the German East before the fall of the wall.
I hope you get a chance to see it ...
posted by Berlinbound at 8:27 PM
7 Comments:
I am addicted to films, esp. foreign films, so this is the next one I will try to see. I know what you mean about understanding, I once saw the film 'Hip Hip Hurrah" (about the Skagen Painters) I saw the film in Norwegian with Danish subtitles, neither of which I could understand, but I followed the story fairly well, and got to see it with English subtitles recently.
But I am sure your German is pretty good, especially with (HH) a native speaker in the house.
I meant in Danish with Norwegian subtitles. It was a Danish film (duh)
I just checked this one out of the city library (they have, by the way, a nice selection of films-- and many have both English and German soundtracks), am looking forward to looking at it. My girlfriend is an Ossie from East Berlin, and so I know all about the kind of life they led. The constant trivial spying and presence of Stasi agents.. they were ostensibly just "normal citizens" but of course everyone knew who they were. Her local spy still lives in his apartment in the (now trendy) Prenzlauer Berg area, and her son traditionally rings his doorbell every time he walks by, no matter which time of day or night..
dcb ... as addictions go, film is a pretty healthy one - and this one is (imho) worth the investment of time.
vailian ... let me know your thoughts.
This film just won an Oscar.
cdb ... that's great news for film in germany!
Too bad I won't get this film in Canada. I do have some idea of what life was like, now that I have some contact with a cousin. They have told me some things, also my Mom was there twice before the wall came down. Some day I might go there, Greifswald is my Mom's home town...ciao
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