Das Leben der Anderen (2006)

	Directed by: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck	COUNTRY Germany GENRE Drama/Historical ENGLISH TITLE The Lives of Others NORWEGIAN TITLE De andres liv RUNNING TIME 137 minutes
	Produced by: Quirin Berg Max Wiedemann
	Written by: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Christa-Maria Sieland	Martina Gedeck	½
Captain Gerd Wiesler	Ulrich Mühe
Georg Dreyman	Sebastian Koch
Lt. Col. Anton Gurbitz	Ulrich Tukur
Minister Bruno Kempf	Thomas Thieme	½
Paul Hauser	Hans-Uwe Bauer	½
Albert Jerska	Volkmar Kleinert
Karl Wallner	Matthias Brenner

Review

In the past few years, German cinema has experienced a revival centered around truthful, nuanced historical accounts, with films such as Der Untergang and Sophie Scholl – Die letzten Tage. Das Leben der Anderen – the feature debut of Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck – is arguably the culmination of this revival. It combines a harrowing but nostalgic (and not altogether disapproving) portrait of the political situation in the final period of the DDR with a masterly written, multi-character human drama of exceptional depth. This combination constitutes a delicious blend of bitter and sweet that is both pleasantly recognisable and profoundly stirring.

The three main characters are the writer/actress couple Georg Dreyman (Sebastian Koch) and Christa-Maria Sieland (Martina Gedeck) on the one hand, and the bureaucratic Stasi captain Gerd Wiesler (Ulrich Mühe) on the other. The backdrop is the excessive restriction of people's freedom of speech and movement, as well as the control of information flow, carried out by the Stasi in the period between the late 1970s and the early 1980s. By default, suspects were people in the art scene, such as Dreyman. But when Wiesler is put in charge of the surveillance of Dreyman, his motives and view of life are altered – first subconsciously, then more profoundly.

Films that manage to insightfully depict a character undergoing a gradual, unwitting change of fundamental proportions – as Das Leben der Anderen does with Wiesler – will often be the most dramatically powerful. And the effect is arguably even more profound when dealing with a low-key, constrained man like Captain Gerd Wiesler. Through Mühe's masterful, complete performance, the emotional outlet of Wiesler is restrained until a point where he can no longer hold back. The other leads are also brilliant, and the many intense relations between the extensive cast of characters make the drama both diverse and challenging. There are a few that truly stand out: my pick would be the implicit understanding exhibited in the meetings between Wiesler and Sieland – an understanding that is ultimately transferred to the Dreyman/Wiesler relationship – even though the two never actually meet.

Das Leben der Anderen has elements of comedy and tragedy, but although it is largely constructed as the latter, in the end it is a far more uplifting and rewarding story than a traditional tragedy. The warmth and delicate combination of nostalgia and optimism are all thanks to Henckel von Donnersmarck. The tone of the film is the icing on the cake – a cake that can boast an abundance of layers, historical importance, discussions of several political and social questions, and a fresh writer/director who is able to utilise his wonderful characters to underline his very distinct, rich themes. One of the best films of the year.