The Lives of Others
The Lives of Others German Das Leben der Anderen is a 2006 German drama film, marking the feature film debut of filmmaker Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, about the monitoring of East Berlin residents by agents of the Stasi, the GDRs secret police. It stars Ulrich Mhe who died within a year of the films release as Stasi Captain Gerd Wiesler, Ulrich Tukur as his superior Anton Grubitz, Sebastian Koch as the playwright Georg Dreyman, and Martina Gedeck as Dreymans lover, a prominent actress named ChristaMaria Sieland.
In 1984 East Germany, Stasi Hauptmann Gerd Wiesler Ulrich Mhe, code name HGW XX7, suggests to his superiors that he begin to spy on the playwright Georg Dreyman Sebastian Koch. Wiesler and his team bug the apartment, set up surveillance equipment in an attic, and begin reporting Dreymans activities. Dreyman, who escaped state scrutiny due to his proCommunist views and international recognition, soon learns the real reason behind the surveillance Minister of Culture Bruno Hempf Thomas Thieme covets Dreymans girlfriend, actress ChristaMaria Sieland Martina Gedeck, and is trying to eliminate Dreyman as a romantic rival. While Wieslers superior, Lt. Col. Anton Grubitz Ulrich Tukur, sees an opportunity for advancement, the idealist Wiesler asks Grubitz, Is this why we joined? Minister Hempf coerces Sieland into having sex with him by exploiting her vulnerability as an insecure actress. After discovering Sielands relationship with Hempf, Dreyman implores her not to meet him again. Sieland flees to a nearby bar where Wiesler, posing as a fan, urges her to be true to herself. She returns home and reconciles with Dreyman, rejecting Hempf.Though a communist and supporter of the regime, Dreyman becomes disillusioned with the treatment of his colleagues by the state. At his birthday party, his friend Albert Jerska a blacklisted theatrical director gives him sheet music for Sonate vom Guten Menschen Sonata for a Good Man. Shortly afterwards, Jerska hangs himself. Dreyman decides to publish an anonymous article on the East German suicide rate in Der Spiegel, a prominent West German newsweekly. Dreymans article accuses the state of callously ignoring those who commit suicide. Since all East German typewriters are registered, an editor of Der Spiegel smuggles Dreyman a miniature typewriter with a red ribbon. Dreyman hides the typewriter in the floor of his apartment, but is seen one afternoon by Sieland hiding it there as she returns to the apartment. Meanwhile, a disillusioned Wi
Source: Wikipedia
