The Lives of Others (Das Leben der Anderen)
— The walls have ears: a painful look at the methods of the former East German regime shines a light on the darkness.”
- Director: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
- Germany, 2006
Crass Hollywood remakes of European art film aren’t often successful. The big budgets, the bigger country and the biggest names tend to kill off every single cell of zeitgeist in the original. And I can see that happening here, when they get sad-jowled Nicolas Cage to emote all over this one.
A Stasi official instigates a surveillance operation on a successful playwright. Beginning with an implacable dedication to finding the evidence he needs to condemn his subject, the official instead grows to respect and perhaps envy him, with difficult consequences for both.
The Lives of Others is steeped in atmosphere, the performances are beautifully restrained and the material is worryingly relevant to our times. Top that, Weinstein. Or rather, don’t bother.
See also:
Les Poupées Russes (Russian Dolls)
Though it could never live up to its predecessor, Russian Dolls is pretty pleasant in its own way.
- Originally published: 20 Mar 2007 in Film
Stasimuseum Normannenstraße
The banality of evil: a Stasi boss who ate breakfast while down the corridor prisoners awaited their fate.
- Originally published: 30 Mar 2009 in Museums & Galleries
Pepi, Luci, Bom
Lightweight and fizzy but carries barely a hint of the greatness to come!
- Originally published: 21 Aug 2006 in Film
La Flor de mi Secreto (the Flower of my Secret)
Almodóvar’s nod to the future offers ample evidence of the director’s growing maturity.
- Originally published: 15 Aug 2007 in Film
Who you gonna call?
Hello you, I'm Mike Padgett. I'm not a Princeton curator, Knoxville mayoral candidate, Kentuckian pastor or Arizona journalist, I just share the same name. In fact, I am a consultant working in user experience and information design.
I also enjoy travel, concerts, films and walking.
I'm originally from Yorkshire, England but nowadays I live in Belgium. My current favourite Belgian beer is Black Albert.
Shameless self-promotion
Over a year in the making, Dopeology.org is my latest personal project: a topology of doping in thirty years of European pro road cycling.
I collected information from thousands of sources, then I modelled and published it via a lightweight user interface.
Comments
No responses yet to The Lives of Others (Das Leben der Anderen)
Why not give me your comments?