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The lives of others (Das leben der anderen) - Ulrich Mühe, Martina Gedeck, Sebastian Koch, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck

Threat advisory: Elevated - Significant risk of entertaining activities

Movie propaganda

Nothing is private. Nothing is sacred.

The startling resurgence in German cinema continues with the brilliant new film The lives of others (Das leben der anderen). As was the case with Downfall, The lives of others (Das leben der anderen) goes to the very heart of recent German history, this time tackling the East German secret police, the dreaded Stasi.

Party-loyalist Captain Gerd Wiesler (Ulrich Mühe) hopes to boost his career when given the job of collecting evidence against the playwright Georg Dreyman (Sebastian Koch) and his girlfriend, the celebrated theatre actress Christa-Maria Sieland (Martina Gedeck). After all, the “operation” is backed by the highest political circle and Georg would be a considerable scalp. They wire and bug Georg's apartment so that they can hear every conversation and track every move. Gerd is obsessed with finding evidence against Georg, but over time he can't help but start to like the playwright - he realises he is a decent, intelligent man who truly loves his country and his girlfriend.

After months of surveillance Gerd begins to change. His immersion in the lives of others - in love, literature, free thinking and speech - makes Wiesler acutely aware of the meagreness of his own existence and opens him to a completely new way of life. So when Georg begins to plan a resistance, Gerd doesn't arrest him but instead begins to secretly help him by sending out warnings and covering his tracks.

Tense, taut and brilliantly written, The lives of others (Das leben der anderen) follows in the footsteps of Hidden and The conversation. Its twists and turns will keep you on the edge of your seat and the ending will leave you breathless.

Theatrical propaganda posters

The lives of others (Das leben der anderen) poster image

Target demographic movie keyword propaganda

Film East Germany thriller German Stasi secret police Cold War Communist Party history bug resistance

Persons of interest

Martina Gedeck .... Christa-Maria Sieland
Ulrich Mühe .... Hauptmann Gerd Wiesler "HGW XX/7"
Sebastian Koch .... Georg Dreyman
Ulrich Tukur .... Oberstleutnant Anton Grubitz
Thomas Thieme .... Minister Bruno Hempf
Thomas Arnold .... Nowack
Hans-Uwe Bauer .... Paul Hauser
Ludwig Blochberger .... Benedikt Lehmann
Matthias Brenner .... Karl Wallner
Werner Daehn .... Stasi Einsatzleiter
Marie Gruber .... Frau Meineke
Charly Hübner .... Udo
Volkmar Kleinert .... Albert Jerska
Herbert Knaup .... Gregor Hessenstein
Volker Michalowski .... Schriftexperte
Klaus Münster .... Erich Mielke
Hinnerk Schönemann .... Stigler
Bastian Trost .... Häftling 227
Florian Henckel-Donnersmarck .... Screenwriter
Florian Henckel-Donnersmarck .... Director

Cinematic intelligence sources

The lives of others (Das leben der anderen) official movie site
The lives of others (Das leben der anderen) film production notes
The lives of others (Das leben der anderen) QuickTime movie trailers
Awards and film festivals:

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS - Oscars) 2007: Won: Best foreign language film (Germany)
Adelaide Film Festival 2007: World Cinema, Natuzzi Competition
Australian Film Critics' Association (AFCA) 2007: Commended
Bavarian Film Awards 2006: Won: Best Actor (Ulrich Mühe), Best Direction - Young Film (Florian Henckel-Donnersmarck), Best Screenplay (Florian Henckel-Donnersmarck), VGF Award
British Independent Film Awards 2007: Won: Best Foreign Independent Film
European Film Awards 2006: Won: European Film, European Actor, European Screenwriter (Florian Henckel Von Donnersmarck)
Film Critics Circle of Australia 2008: Nominated: Best Foreign Language Film
German Film Awards 2006: Won: Film Award in Gold - Best Cinematography (Hagen Bogdanski), Best Direction (Florian Henckel-Donnersmarck), Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (Ulrich Mühe), Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role (Ulrich Tukur), Best Production Design (Silke Buhr), Best Screenplay (Florian Henckel-Donnersmarck), Outstanding Feature Film (Quirin Berg, Max Wiedemann); Nominated: Film Award in Gold - Best Costume Design (Gabriele Binder), Best Editing (Patricia Rommel), Best Film Score (Stéphane Moucha, Gabriel Yared), Best Sound (Hubertus Rath, Christoph von Schönburg, Arno Wilms)
Hollywood Foreign Press Association (Golden Globes) 2006: Nominated: Best Foreign Language Film
Locarno International Film Festival 2006: Won: Audience Award (Florian Henckel-Donnersmarck)
New Faces Awards, Germany 2006: Won: Director (Florian Henckel-Donnersmarck)

NB: German language dialogue with English language subtitles
See also Goodbye Lenin!
Studios and distributors:

Hopscotch Films

Intelligence analyst

Special Agent Matti

Theatrical report

The lives of others (Das leben der anderen) is a grey film about a grey man in a grey country. This is a terrible life to have to lead. And you thought that working at a bank was soul-destroying. What's even worse is that the air conditioning was off in the cinema when I saw this film so everything is seen through a veil of drowsy fatigue. Also inducing drowsy fatige was the Soviet tempo: there's all the time in the world when you're running a tyrannical dictatorship. In today's world the cops run around busting down doors and trashing your house; in the bad old days the cops mosey in off the street, knock politely then wander about the apartment looking at stuff.

The spycraft is interesting. We know pretty much everything about spying in the USA (see also Spy game, The Bourne identity) and we can even buy their spy gadgets on the internet but the Second World was much better at keeping secrets.

The Germany, thriller movie The lives of others (Das leben der anderen) is directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck and stars Ulrich Mühe, Martina Gedeck, Sebastian Koch.