The Lives of Others

Name: The Lives of Others
Released: 2006-12-1
Cast: Martina Gedeck, Ulrich Muhe, Sebastian Koch, Ulrich Tukur

The Lives of Others

R
2h 18m
2006

93%

age 17+

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This critically-acclaimed, Oscar®-winning film (Best Foreign Language Film, 2006) is an erotic, emotionally-charged experience. Before the collapse of the Berlin Wall, East Germany's population was closely monitored by the State Secret Police (Stasi). Only a few citizens above suspicion, like renowned pro-Socialist playwright Georg Dreyman, were permitted to lead private lives. But when a corrupt government official falls for Georg's stunning actress-girlfriend, Christa, an ambitious Stasi policeman is ordered to bug the writer's apartment to gain incriminating evidence against the rival. Now, what the officer discovers is about to dramatically change their lives - as well as his - in this seductive political thriller.

Director:

Florian Henckel Von Donnersmarck

Producer:

Writer:

Florian Henckel Von Donnersmarck

Cast:

Martina Gedeck, Ulrich Muhe, Sebastian Koch, Ulrich Tukur

Rotten Tomatoes® Score

TOMATOMETER®

93%

Critics Consensus: Unlike more traditional spy films, The Lives of Others doesn't sacrifice character for cloak and dagger chases, and the performances (notably that by the late Ulrich Muhe) stay with you.

Reviews

The Dispatch (Lexington, NC)

Matthew Lucas

Examines the effects of watching and being watched, both willingly and unwillingly, and turns them...

As [Captain Gerd] Weisler discovers his real self, layer by layer, we are in the presence of a mas...

Donnersmarck makes an assured debut, builds the atmosphere of deceit, suspicion and suffocation an...

The Lives of Others is exquisitely tense, with massive stakes and a pervasive sense of danger.

August 23, 2018

FULL REVIEW

The New York Review of Books

Timothy Garton Ash

It uses the syntax and conventions of Hollywood to convey to the widest possible audience some par...

August 23, 2018

FULL REVIEW

Common Sense Media

age 17+

Common Sense Says

Art battles duty in bracing German spy thriller.

What Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that even if kids were interested in this subtitled German film, it's not for them. Set in the oppressive world of communist East Germany in the 1980s, it features psychological cruelty (including interrogation tactics like sleep deprivation) and one unexpected, violent death. A character's suicide prompts discussion about the government's efforts to cover up suicide rates in East Germany during the 1980s. There's also some fairly mature sexual material (a couple undresses and kisses in preparation for lovemaking, a man has an interlude with a nude prostitute, a government official crudely gropes a disinterested woman). Characters smoke lots of cigarettes and drink liquor.