THE LIVES OF OTHERS – Director: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck

Set in the mid 80’s East Berlin, a Stasi agent is sent to spy and report on possible anti-communist party activities of a well known playwright and his lover.  Agent Wiesler is a credit to his job, but as the assignment progresses, he finds himself drawn to the couple and living vicariously through their lives.

I began to watch this movie with a knot in my stomach.  I enjoy watching movies with accurate portrayals of humanity’s darker points in history, but they take a huge emotional toll on me.  THE LIVES OF OTHERS was no exception.  Agent Wiesler is cold, grey, and all about business.  He is considered an expert in interrogation techniques, and is proud of how he gained a confession through ten hours of questioning a suspect, deliberately depriving him of sleep.  As he emotionlessly goes into playwright Georg Dreyman’s apartment and sets up the surveillance, that knot in my middle got tighter.

I won’t deny that bad things happen in this movie, but good things happen too.  Over the lengthy surveillance period, Wiesler begins to like Dreyman and his actress girlfriend.  He begins to view them as friends.  Stasi agents live a lonely life, unable to trust anyone and unable to develop relationships that may eventually bring about their downfall, but Wiesler is somehow redeemed, somehow made whole by this one sided friendship.

Complex, at times very tense, but an amazing film.  This movie is a must see.  Five stars.