The Lives of Others

The Lives of Others bears more than a passing resemblance to Francis Ford Coppola’s oft-overlooked The Conversation, and it would surely have to share the mantle as one of the best films focussing on power and consequences of surveillance.

Set in 1984 before the fall of The Wall, East German secret police have a stranglehold on the population. The script is very aware of just how absurd things can get in societies hell-bent on surveillance. The secret service begin the film simply scanning a theatre audience for possible anarchists. Those that seem to be squeaky clean are ironically those of which they are most suspicious. The film shares a little in common with Catch a Fire, insofar as hypersuspicious repressive regimes can actually inspire insurgents rather than quash existing ones.

Famous playwright Georg Dreyman (Sebastian Koch) is one of those chosen for full investigation. The secret police’s role is to monitor him 24/7 and record every minute detail of what goes on behind his front door. With such a close examination of someone’s personal life, it’s no wonder Hauptmann Gerd Wiesler (Ulrich Mühe) becomes a little more involved than he should.

The Lives of Others finds a surprising amount of humour in such dark times, and this perhaps lessens the film’s dramatic impact. It’s almost Hitchcockian, with its regular movements involving the traditional set-up and building of tension, and it’s wonderful to see such nervousness wrung out of such a sparse film.

The décor is horribly 80s, with wood panelling everywhere you turn. The streets are drab and grey and the filmmakers certainly went out of their way to show that East Germany was a depressing place to be. It also seems that all Stasi agents were ugly and the insurgents were sexy, so that could explain the former’s obsession on wanting to know what the latter were up to.

Though 137 minutes, The Lives of Others only feels about two hours long (which is still excessive in my mind), and its slow pacing may be a little too extreme for some. The ending isn’t as satisfying as the journey, but it’s a strong film all the same.