In East Berlin in 1984, the secret police, known as the Stasi, are gaining more and more control, spying on German citizens, and recruiting thousands of them to spy on each other. Captain Gerd Wiesler (Ulrich Muhe) has been ordered to find something on playwright Georg Dreyman (Sebastian Koch), so he sets up a surveillance room and listens closely as Dreyman, his actress girlfriend, Christa-Marie Sieland (Martina Gedeck), and various suspected radical friends gather in their apartment. But when Wiesler discovers that culture minister Bruno Hempf (Thomas Thieme) cast suspicion on Dreyman only so he can have his way with Sieland, the master interrogator and torture teacher starts taking a long look at just what it all is about. THE LIVES OF OTHERS, co-written and directed by first-timer Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, is a tense, compelling thriller about a critical time in German history. Muhe is mesmerising as the complicated Wiesler, a loyal soldier until he learns too much. The wildly talented Koch is outstanding as Dreyman, a man with a lot to say but desperate to avoid the same fate as his mentor, theatre director Albert Jerska (Volkmar Kleinert). Inspired by actual events and real characters, THE LIVES OF OTHERS was nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 2007. Interestingly, during and after the filming of the movie, several of the actors (including Muhe) found out that they or their families had been victims of the Stasi--and in one case, the father of an actor (Charly Hubner) was revealed to have been a member of the Stasi himself.
Product Identifiers
Producer
Quirin Berg, Max Wiedemann
EAN
5060052412270
eBay Product ID (ePID)
59954034
Product Key Features
Actor
Ulrich Tukur, Thomas Thieme, Sebastian Koch, Ulrich Muehe, Mathias Brenner, Volkmar Kleinert, Hans Bauer, Martina Gedeck
Film/TV Title
The Lives of Others
Director
Florian Henckel Von Donnersmarck
Language
German
Subtitle Language
English
Run Time
132 Mins
Aspect Ratio
16:9 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Release Year
2007
Format
DVD
Features
Extended and deleted scenes with optional director?s commentary\Cast and crew interviews\Making of\Original Stasi devices gallery\Audio commentary by director Florian Hanckel von Donnersmarck, Widescreen, Closed Caption, With Subtitles
Genre
Drama, General
Additional Product Features
Number of Discs
1
Certificate
15
Country/Region of Manufacture
Germany
Hearing Impaired
English
Composer
Gabriel Yared, Stephane Moucha
Awards
Best Foreign Film 2007 -, Best Foreign Language Film 2008 -
Reviews
Film Review - A masterpiece, The Guardian - The best film of the year, Premiere - A remarkably engrossing thriller concerning the very intimate surveillance that was the bread and butter of the East German secret police in the bad old days of the Cold War, Rolling Stone - Von Donnersmarck has crafted the best kind of movie: one you can't get out of your head, Total Film - An outstanding thriller
After three visits to Berlin so many pre Wall exhibits had sadness and no human bearing, this film is a must in understanding a regime that dissappeared not so long ago..... you will pass it on to anyone interested in history and its effect on the human condition inspiring actors truly. Going back to Berlin
Great video set in East Germany in the 1980s-read a book about the same period called Stasiland to hear authentic first hand accounts and watch Deutchland 83 on Channel 4 for a brilliant depiction of the same period. Recent history to some of us older folk but still powerful lessons from history.