Where to Watch:
9.2/10
FilmFascination Rating
The Lives of Others is a powerful movie. But it never really makes any noise.
Some of the greatest dramas are those that show character transformation. But it isn’t easy. Connecting to a character is essential for us to care about him and further care about his transformation. It is effective only when we get emotionally involved in the movie.
Hauptmen Weisler is a Stasi officer who is a professional in carrying out interrogations. The movie begins with a chilling detail of interrogation. Weisler, during his lecture to budding Stasi officers, tells them that the suspect should always be asked to put their hands under their thighs when they sit to collect their sweat on the chair cloth. So that the suspect could be further traced if he escapes through bloodhounds. That is pretty brutal to think of in the first place.
Weisler is the typical strict officer who always goes by the rules. He has the same dead face all the time, has no life other than his job, and brings a prostitute when he wants some company. Weisler isn’t much of a fan of Georg Dreyman, a playwright writer, when he first sees him during his play. He thinks of putting him under scrutiny and within a few days is ordered by his superior Grubitz to carry out one at the request of the Minister of Culture, Bruno Hempf. Hempf covets Dreyman’s girlfriend, Christa Maria Sieland, which becomes evident from the toast that seems to be more of a threat that he gives at one of Dreyman’s parties.
Dreyman’s whole house gets wired. Weisler and another colleague listen to every tiniest of their conversations that take place in the house. Every single thing they do in the house is written in the reports (even their having sex is reported). But slowly things start taking the wrong turn which makes Weisler question the whole structure of right or wrong. The beauty lies when how subtly his life starts to change when he gets heavily involved in the very lives of his suspects. The thing to appreciate about Ulrich Muhe is how complex he has made the character. Each character evolves on various levels. That tiny moment of intervention, when Weisler causes the doorbell to ring by his choice becomes so electrifying because it is a signal that Weisler is getting humanized.
One of the greatest things a movie could do is make you forget about your life for those few hours and pull you into the characters’ lives. We will always have plans, work, or decisions to make about what to do after the movie. And it takes a great movie, for it to make the viewer forget about all these thoughts and think about the movie alone. And that is what ‘The lives of others’ does at its best. The characters made me feel for them. I cared for them and even cared for the decisions they were making that changed the course of their life and even others. I was even worried at times that they wouldn’t take any foolish steps. And that in my opinion is the highest feat a movie could achieve which ‘The Lives of Others’ does. The movie is never really predictable. No character is really supporting another in the movie. Anyone could turn their back on another at any time to save themselves. And that is why the decisions they make are so important. This primarily makes you want to know what happens next.
It does not have any violence and yet still gives the stress and thrills. The movie states its power through the risks the characters take and the tension in the dialogue. It never really eases down, somewhere hidden there is always this soul-crushing pressure that I could feel the entire film. Even in scenes where the movie wasn’t showing anything disturbing, I always had that feeling at the back of my mind that something bad was going to happen.
In a way, it was always uneasy to watch because all this is a historical reality and not a depiction of a fictional tale. Whatever happened was so horrible and so wrong that it makes you repulse it. This is another reason why the movie should be watched. Despite living in a restrictive society, individuals are still responsible for the choices they make. It is just really sad to see how many lives got ruined because of the constant pressure. What is worse is this is going on even today in some countries.
But in all the evil, there is beauty in the movie. The beauty of good people that the movie reflects on. ‘Sonata of a Good Man’ as the movie emphasizes. In all the corrupt and ruthless officers shown in the movie, it is that silver lining that does not make us lose hope entirely. What pleasantly surprised me was the satisfying ending of the movie. The end leaves a lasting experience after all the dark things we go through.
Join the FilmFascination Club!
All the updates right in your Inbox! (We will never spam you with junk mails)
You will get a message on the top of the form once your subscription is successful.