Others say...

"Somewhere, somehow, someone....."
In a heartless time under a heartless regime, somehow, someone found a heart, and faced with a dilemma made a decision, that would impact the Lives of Others.

It is a rare sign only seen in the best movies, and masterful how this movie builds up, and unwinds, and unwinds even more just as you think its already completely unwound.

This story is as intricate as the inner working of a watch, make the slightest wrong adjustment and....

So Ulrich Muhe gives an excellent performance as does Sebastian Koch as Dreyman. Apparently, Muhe was bugged himself when he live in East Germany, and his ex wife sued him for mentioning this in a radio interview.

Lives of Others won Best Foreign Language movie at the Oscars. After watching the movie, I watched some of the earlier scenes over. At around 8 minutes you see the actresses proclamation on stage, and the words she said set up two later scenes. See if you can figure it out.

If you're like me, and you love this movie, you will most probably also like Blackbook, also starring Sebastian Koch as the male lead. Directed by Paul Verhoeven, of Basic Instinct and Total Recall fame. One of the few movies I have bought in addition to watching.

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"Stasi Life"
'The Lives of Others' deserved its foreign-language Oscar.
The acting and plot were well integrated, and the overall
theme of the violation of privacy was gripping. The writer-
director's commentary on the DVD was engrossing.

"humanity overcomes a evil system"
This movie is just fantastic. And on blu ray it shines and delivers
it's timeless story with even more clarity. The communist system with it's intolerance and inhumanity even in regards to the most minute aspect of peoples lives is depicted here with a knowing production. Each actor protrays their character in a light of reality and highly perfected skill.
The story is about a man whose whole life is based around violating others rights and hunting down enemies of the state with precision and robot like slavish duty. The secret police or stasi by 1984 was not the murder machine it was in previous decades yet it still killed the souls of it people and the robot like watcher only becomes a good man after he
spies on his intended targets. This movie won awards and delivers solid
drama and an very important story for the ages. The details need to be seen by the viewer but over 200 people took the time to write about how much they loved this movie and if you love solid dramas then this is the one for you.

"Chillingly Instructive of the society we are becoming."
The movie is excellent. It is a toned down reminder of the evil a state can perpetrate against individuals and a nation once absolute power is attained. It also illustrates that a police state can only succeed when it has accomplices in the population at large and in the media that controls access to the truth. I marveled at the efficiency of the Stasi and their system of obtaining and maintaining information on East German citizens. Imagine what could be done with today's technology to spy on and control citizens. Ultimately, the Stasi files themselves attest to the failure of communism/socialism. The files document those who were complicit in the Stasi evil while also documenting those unsung heroes that continued to yearn and work for freedom up to the point that they just disappeared in the night. Sadly, it seems that only those that have lived under the yoke of totalitarianism can truly appreciate the freedoms we American's take for granted. Today, as we see American citizens vilified in the press for taking contrary positions, or as we view the efforts of those in academia to indoctrinate rather that teach, one must ask, how much longer before the truth police will be knocking on our doors.

"A simple, powerful and poignant film."
Rush Limbaugh recommended this film on his radio show and I came home and recorded it using the "On Demand" feature of Directv. This movie is a moving masterpiece about the survival of humanity in a Stasi (State police) apparatchik. Other have commented on the unlikelihood of such a character in East Germany, particularly one who had risen through the ranks of the Stasi who was so highly regarded he had an academic position at the Stasi academy. I believe such fundamental expressions of our humanity are indeed possible even under such brutal and tyrannical circumstances.

Regardless, this is an enormously moving film. Well directed, well acted and extremely well written. Too often, movies end prematurely leaving the viewer left to wonder. Sometimes, I think the director in this regard is too smart by half. This movie ended at exactly the perfect spot.

For me, the movie was about courage and the survival of human dignity even under unbelievably oppressive conditions. I cannot recommend this movie highly enough. Ignore the few negative reviews, do yourself a favor and get this movie! It is one of the best I have seen for over 5 years.