The Lives of Others

The German film The Lives of Others was, I believe, the winner of this years Academy Award for best foreign film. Its now out on DVD and I was able to view it a few weeks ago. Despite a recommendation from a friend when it was playing in DC, I passed on it in the theater. It is a great film. Its set in East Germany in 1984 and involves the surveillance of a respected playwright who has never been involved or suspected of being involved in "subversive" anti-socialist activity. The interest of the Stasi (East German secret police) is more personal for the characters involved. The acting is tremendous. The story operates on the most intimate level of its characters as well as on the larger political world. The people who made the film balance these two themes as well as any high wire walker. It would be easy for it to become a heavy handed political drama or a silly melodrama. It doesn't happen. The best film I've seen this year. Some have compared it to Coppola's 1974 film The Conversation with Gene Hackman, another great film. I won't say which I think is better but Coppola's is more about the personal toll on the Hackman character and while The Lives of Others has that element as well, it's story development is broader than just the surveillance. Any lessons my fellow Americans want to take away from the film about the need to keep vigilant about government intrusion to maintain an open society, they are free to take but I'll limit this post to the film itself.