The Lives of Others (2006)

Just kidding!

The other reviews do not lie, this is one of the best films to be released anywhere in the world in the past 5 years. Great script, Deutschland's finest actors, inventive camera work. A bit on the Romantic side (in the German sense), so if that's not your aesthetic cup of tea, this will be a taxing viewing; otherwise its hard to imagine being disappointed! August 6, 2008

Easily one of the 10 best movies I've ever seen.

When I finished watching this movie, I felt like it was one of the best movies I had ever seen. I was not surprised to find out later that a number of reviewers said the same thing. I happen to have had the experience of having met and corresponded with a couple of East Germans after a college trip there in 1988. I later found out that they had visted the Statsi headquarters and found out that there was a big file on us which included copies of all the letters we ever wrote. Who knows? A guy like the one portrayed in the film was probably opening my letters. In any case, this is one of those movies that just seems to get everything right. Now, almost 20 years after the wall fell, I'm glad to see a movie like this to help people remember what life in the eastern block was like in some respects. July 16, 2008

Beautifully done

I almost turned this off 30 minutes in - I'm so glad I didn't give up! I wish I saw this when it was in the theater; it's a wonderfully made film and the end is incredibly moving. The acting is all first-rate. July 15, 2008

A TRULY GREAT FILM!

If I should pick the five greatest films I have seen in my life, The Lives of Others would be one of them. It is a story of people living in the GDR before the collapse of the Wall. It is a study in how much people can and cannot endure.

The performances are breathtaking - no point in selecting a few of the actors to praise, as even the actors who have no lines excel in their craft. The music, the costumes, the settings, all are fitting and magnificent.

Praise must be given the most for the film's creator and director, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck. He spent many years of his life developing what can only be considered one of the great films of our time. He made this film with limited funds, and even when it was completed, all but one distribution company in Germany refused to be involved with it. Ha! Ha! Ha! on them when it finally won the Academy Award for best foreign film is all I can say.

I found it fascinating, after watching the film without the director's comments, to re-watch it with the comments. The director shares how the film came to birth, and the many elements which came to play in its making. I saw the film with new eyes as the director related details of each scene's making.

This is a very exciting film which I know I will watch again and again from here on! And I thank the director for his stamina and persistence in making his vision a reality.
June 30, 2008

A masterpiece

This is a beautiful movie.
Why can't we make good movies in America anymore?
Probably because we think that the more expensive they come the better they'll be. The Lives of Others proves the opposite. The budget of this movie must have been 1 percent of a Hollywood Blockbuster but the result is a hundred times better. It's time we learnt that lesson in this country.
This movie is about how human beings can be redeemed. Without preeching and always very subtly we witness the transformation of a servant of a cruel, tyrannical state into a modern day saint and that transformation is so moving that it had me in tears by the end.
I recommend this as a masterpiece. June 29, 2008

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