The Lives of Others (2006)

Das Leben der Anderen

The Lives of Others won Oscar for best foreign language film of the year in competition with among others the more known Pan's Labyrinth, and is a very interesting movie from writer and director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck. It takes us back to 1984 and East-Germany. The secret police, Stasi, keeps an eye on everyone and the western influence is anything but welcome.

It's a depressing movie because it paints the picture of the country and time so well, but that's among the reasons it's such a great movie as well. I don't like German. I don't think it's a beautiful language, unlike Spanish, Italian and French, but I really didn't mind this time. It gets the story out even better. The gray feels even grayer in German.

The acting is great. There's no need to take it to the screen with huge emotional acting, and the director is fully aware. They play their parts with the quiet it requires, but it never feel staged, fake or mechanic.

I really don't want to say much about the story. It's not a historical movie about Stasi and their methods. There's a story there about people, but it's an experience I leave for you to discover. It's just an experience I recommend strongly. Well aware of Stasi history during this time, it's still very powerful to get it delivered on screen like in this movie.

I suspect it'll stay with me for quite a while.