Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Capsule Review: The Lives Of Others (2006)

Captain Gerd Wiesler (Ulrich Muehe) works for the "stasi", the state police who record and observe those thought to undermine the government in 1980s East Germany. However, Wiesler becomes fascinated with the lives of playwright Georg Dreyman (Sebastian Koch) and actress Christa-Maria Sieland (Martina Gedeck), whom he begins to protect when they begin to incriminate themselves. A fascinating accompaniment to the content in Good Bye Lenin!, the film features a rather incredible lead performance from Muehe who manages to bring humanity and humor to what could have been a very unsympathetic role. Director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck brings the cold efficiency of the era to life in this Best Foreign Language Oscar winner.

1 comment:

televiper said...

Excellent film that helped bring further recognition to the burgeoning contemporary German cinema scene.