Review: Das Leben der Anderen [The Lives of Others]

On Wednesday I finally managed to watch Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's The Lives of Others.

Many people had recommended this film to me and it's won many awards in film festivals and competitions around the world (including the Oscar for Best Foreign Language film). I'm delighted to say that von Donnersmarck's debut (!) deserves both the recommendations and the awards.

This has been a great year for cinema, especially world cinema. Many good films from Europe, Asia and Central / Latin America received a good amount of publicity, attention, awards, good reviews and - importantly - distribution. This was one of them and I was pleasantly surprised when Odeon (which holds a monopoly over Bournemouth's screens) decided to take a risk and schedule the film on a prime-time slot. People's response was amazing and The Lives of Others is on for a second consecutive week at the heart of Middle England, which for a subtitled European political thriller is a triumph.

+ Performances are excellent. In a year with many strong female leads (Helen Mirren, Penelope Cruz, Judi Dench et al.) but very few notable male roles, Ulrich Muehe gives a chilling, moving, old school performance and steals the show. Martina Gedeck moves effortlessly and subtly between loyalty and betrayal, while Sebastian Koch avoids overacting and persuades as the idealistic and authoritative but slightly ignorant artist.

+ The film is solidly directed and edited, but it is the screenplay that grips the viewer. Calling The Lives of Others a 'political thriller' is a simplification; yes it is a thriller - and a gripping one - but that's just the packaging. Our understanding of, and sympathy for, the characters evolves along with them through to the ending that will devastate you. And despite the cruel and raw realities portrayed in the film, its core is about humanity, forgiveness, sacrifice, solidarity and hope. The film is also a treatise on power, corruption and totalitarianism. Its lessons are applicable across time and space. The Lives of Others masterfully combines tension, emotion and drops of acid humour, which often come when least expected, exposing the ridiculous and flamboyant expressions of power and social control.

+ The intriguing score by Gabriel Yared and Stéphane Mouca is instrumental (pun intended) to the plot. Cinematography and art direction / set decoration are also subtly confident and appropriate.

I've mentioned many times before how fond I've become of contemporary German cinema. I reckon that we're witnessing a golden era for German films represented through gems such as Der Untergang (Downfall), Goodbye Lenin!, Die Fetten Jahre sind vorbei (The Edukators), Sommer vorm Balkon (Summer in Berlin), Napola (Before the Fall), and now Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others).

This is one of the best soundtracks of the last few years...