I did a search and was shocked to find not a single thread on this foreign film Oscar winner (I know it's not in very wide release yet, and only available in major market arthouses now, but still...).
Set in the 1980s, "The Lives of Others" tells the story of a secret service agent in East Germany who becomes obsessed with two of the country’s top intellectuals after he is assigned to spy on them.
This is the best surveillance movie since Coppola's "The Conversation", with plenty of plot twists and paranoia. It's also a complex political and personal thriller, with no special effects and subtitles - so 90% of the movie-going country won't be interested in seeing it. But it's a very moving story, and a helluva debut by director (and writer) Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, and a terrific performance by Ulrich Mühe, as the Stasi agent assigned to spy on the intellectuals by his college classmate (who's a higher political functionary). Highly recommended.
Set in the 1980s, "The Lives of Others" tells the story of a secret service agent in East Germany who becomes obsessed with two of the country’s top intellectuals after he is assigned to spy on them.
This is the best surveillance movie since Coppola's "The Conversation", with plenty of plot twists and paranoia. It's also a complex political and personal thriller, with no special effects and subtitles - so 90% of the movie-going country won't be interested in seeing it. But it's a very moving story, and a helluva debut by director (and writer) Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, and a terrific performance by Ulrich Mühe, as the Stasi agent assigned to spy on the intellectuals by his college classmate (who's a higher political functionary). Highly recommended.
