User reviews

I am still quite speechless. Overwhelmed by how utterly compelling the story was and by how emotive the acting story was. Floored by the unbelievably great character development. This film is close to perfect. It is a spiritual cousin to 2004's magnificent Downfall and shares a lot of similarities with Paul Verhoeven's stunning Black Book from last year, not just because these films share two actors. This multi-faceted character driven masterpiece really is as good as it's hype says.

Sebastian Koch in particular absolutely shines. He is one of the best international actors working today and he follows the brilliance of his role in Black Book with the lead here. With his bohemian, dishevelled good looks and brilliant charisma, he's the best German-speaking actor since Bruno Ganz. But he is far from the only good actor in this movie, Ulrich Mühe as the State Security (Stasi) agent whose task it is to monitor Koch's suspiciously free thinking playwright, brings another near perfect performance to the movie. Agent Wiesler initially appears to the audience as the polar opposite of Koch's character. With his grey button down clothing, closely cropped hair and consistently emotionless face he symbolises everything about the overbearing untrusting Socialist government of East Germany that is wrong. He could easily have remained that character throughout the whole film but he becomes the surprising emotional centre of the story and the line between heroes and villains is significantly shifted (something which extends to the supporting cast as well. Truth be told there are probably only two characters in this film whom I didn't have to rethink my opinion of). Weisler reveals himself as a lonely, isolated man who risks his entire career as his attitude to his subject changes from one of mistrust to one of near-adoration. There is an undeniable link between the two characters even though they never share a single scene and Georg Dreyman (Koch) doesn't even find about Wiesler until the last 10 minutes of the movie, which leads us up to what should go down as one of the greatest endings in cinema history. Just thinking about the final spoken lines brings the tears to my eyes.

As I said, without a doubt one of the greatest movies I have ever seen. And as much as I adore Pan's Labyrinth, this one really did deserve it's Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film of the Year. An absolute masterpiece.

I saw this film in its North American premiere in a packed theater at the Toronto Int'l Film Festival this past week and was pleased to be part of a standing ovation at the end for the director and star, who were both on hand.

"The Lives of Others," set in East Germany not long before the fall of the Berlin Wall, tells the moving story of a police investigator forced to confront himself and the work he does. In a society poisoned by secrecy, fear and the abuse of power, a number of the movie's characters -- artists, actors, writers -- must look deep inside and decide what they are made of; none more so than the investigator.

This is a movie that took me to a place and time that felt very authentic, for a tale that was very satisfying.

Ulrich Muhe, who plays the investigator, is mesmerizing, and the young director is to be applauded for this, his first full-length film. Some have compared "The Lives of Others" to Coppola's "The Conversation" but the two have completely different story arcs and are only superficially similar.

Both my companion and I felt this was our favorite of the six films we had a chance to see at the festival.

I wonder why there has been so little written and publicized about this movie. This should be seen in every country and its merits trumpeted from the skies.

It starts off slowly and the locale is the former East Germany, inhabited by 16 million people who are being spied upon relentlessly by their secret police. In this very real world of the Berlin Wall, there are many Stasi, 90,000, overseeing the populace, aided and abetted by hundreds of thousands of informants. Many of these snitches were blackmailed or other pressures exerted (threats to children and loved ones) and a few obliged voluntarily.

What is truly amazing is that this is Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's directorial debut, and he maintains a masterful hand throughout and keeps the story and the tension rolling from the first scene of interrogation which is filmed back and forth between a tape educating new Stasi as to interview techniques and to the actual cell itself where it was recorded.

The movie circles around three main characters and there is a wider circle of the powerful who pull the puppet strings for a variety of reasons which become clear as the movie unfolds.

First is Georg Dreyman, a playwright on the verge of celebrating his 40th birthday. Sebastian Koch, a tall,handsome actor dressed in writerly rumple, shares an apartment with his actress girlfriend, Christa-Maria Sieland (Martina Gedeck), and exists within the strictures of the state-sponsored theatre. He is a decent man, and tries to win support for his blacklisted friends.

For reasons that become quite clear, Dreyman falls under suspicion and the whole sophisticated Stasi spying system comes into play in the era of 1984. His whole apartment is bugged and every sound is monitored.

The man in charge of all this is Captain Gerd Wiesler,(Ulrich Mühe). Ulrich's performance is nothing short of stunning. He starts as an almost robotic presence, dressed in gray, he almost disappears into every scene he's in. But one detects a clear intelligence in his bright eyes, the only part of him that's alive. Captain Wiesler lives in a non-descript arborited apartment, much like himself. He squeezes his food onto a plate from a tube.

But the captain starts to awaken slowly as he listens surreptitiously on the state of the art equipment secreted in the attic of Dreyman's building. He starts to fall in love with the couple and then pressure from above is brought to bear on him to dig for the dirt in Dreyman's life.

And he is in a dilemma now, as he is drawn further and further into the life of Dreman and his girlfriend.

I won't throw spoilers down. Suffice to say is that the story is enthralling right down to the very last frame. The acting is superb, the direction impeccable and the world of East Germany meticulously drawn with the viewer respected enough to find his or her own emotional path through the plot.

The ending is truly one of a kind. So right and true that I was left nodding, it was the only one possible.

A must see, I will sing the praises of this film to all I know. 10 out of 10 from me. Right up there in my top 50 of all time. I find it so disappointing that these movies don't get wider release AND compete for an Oscar in the best picture of the year and not just for best foreign film. Now there's a heretical thought!

After seeing the outstanding Pan's Labyrinth, I could not understand how anything could beat it to the Oscar for Best Film, let alone the accolade of Best Foreign Film. That was until I saw The Lives of Others.

Putting it simply, this is the best film released in years. The framework of the story surrounds a Stasi officer who is assigned to monitor a writer and his actress girlfriend considered loyal to East German regime. That is all I am prepared to reveal because this film operates on so many levels that I wouldn't know where to begin. On the surface this can be enjoyed as a taut drama but essentially it is a study of the human condition and the capacity for compassion and humanity exists in even the most inhumane people. All of this is shot against the backdrop of the greys and browns of communist East Germany.

As a film it is virtually flawless. The three central performances are nothing short of electric, with particularly Ulrich Muhe giving one of the greatest leading man performances since Al Pacino in The Godfather. None of this would be possible without a brilliant script and exemplary direction, that brings the characters to life extracting the best out of the actors. The result is no words are wasted, and every scene is relevant and expertly conceived. This manages to explore deep issues without being turgid, is moving without being draining and remains gripping and entertaining without being superficial.

In summary, this is film-making at its finest. It is the sort of movie that you'll go down on bended knee and pay homage to the inventor of cinema, because it is films like this that cinema was created for. You'll forgive a year of tedious sequels and cash cows, for the one day that films like this get released.

10 out of 10 is too modest.

I do agree with all the other positive comments, and just need to add that this is the very first movie about the former GDR I saw that is not something like a comedy. Flicks like "Sonnenallee" or "Good bye Lenin" definitely were great and funny, but unconsciously left myself (a West German) with the impression that the GDR has been a sort of "Mickey Mouse State" full of stupid but charming characters, not really to be taken seriously. After seeing "Das Leben der Anderen" this impression shifted quite a bit: there actually was suffering, killing desperation and a terribly claustrophobic atmosphere behind that wall. This might well be the most realistic depiction of the dark side of the former East Germany. Thanks to the Producers, actors and director for making this movie. 10 out of 10.

East Berlin, November 1984. Five years before its downfall the GDR seeks to maintain its power with the help of a merciless system of control and observation. When Oberstleutnant Anton Grubitz puts loyal Stasi-Hauptmann Gerd Wiesler on to the famous writer Georg Dreymann and his girlfriend Christa Maria Sieland who is a famous actress herself, he expects career advancement for himself. For most important politicians are responsible for this "operative act".

What Wiesler did not expect: the intimate view on the world of the ones he's observing changes the snitch as well. Looking at "the life of the others" makes him aware of the beggarliness in his own life and enables access to a so far unknown world of love, free thinking and speaking he is hardly able to elude. But the system can't be stopped anymore and a dangerous game, which destroys the love of Christa Maria Sieland and Georg Dreymann and Wieslers present existence begins.

Until the fall of the wall each of them has paid a big price. After that a whole new world begins.

My personal opinion - though it doesn't count that much - is that this one a an absolute Must See. I can hardly remember such an intelligent and moving German movie especially not including the whole topic of GDR history and the dealing with it. I think this is the first German movie which shows this system as it used to be (which has been confirmed by several contemporary witnesses) and not turns it and its people into comedy though there have been several good ones, of course.

This film utterly blew me away. Full disclosure: I'm a German born (Munich born) German-American who left Germany in 1986, before the wall came down. I cannot describe the feeling I felt as the last few words were spoken on the screen. I could not look at the subtitles ( a habit of speaking two languages ) because my eyes were so full of tears. I cannot tell you how I was so sorry I did not experience the wall coming down. This film healed a wound that may have been left by the nightmare years of 1938-1945, my own great uncle being a Nazi war criminal, convicted in Nuremberg in 1946. Yes, we are mensch too. We have the potential for greatness (of character) in spite of our history. Thank you Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, for giving me back half of my lost soul in this single "es ist für mich". I am reminded again that the difference between ourselves and beasts is that we have a choice.

"Who knows the secrets of the human heart?" Col in The Crying Game

WhenI saw 2006's Oscar winning Departed, I was satisfied it could be the best picture of the year; then I saw Pan's Labyrinth and thought it imaginatively superior; then I saw Lives of Others, the Oscar choice for best foreign film, and I knew it was the globe's best film of the year, no argument.

Lives of Others is what all movie making should strive to be: interesting characters, thrilling plot, superb acting, and thematic weight. It's set in East Berlin, 1984, five years before the Wall's fall and Gorbachev's "glasnost" and still felling the tremors of Nazism, in this case the Stasi, a government agency similar to the SS. Capt. Gerd Wiesler (Ulrich Muehe), a Stasi teacher and coldly efficient information gatherer, surreptitiously watches playwright Georg Dreyman (Sebastian Koch) and his actress girlfriend Christa-Maria Sieland (Martina Gedeck) to get compromising details that would damn Dreyman and open the romantic way for the culture minister, Bruno Hempf (Thomas Thieme). Oddly for an artist, Dreyman is loyal to socialism, so it is through Sieland that the information must come.

The dramatic hub of this absorbing intrigue is the growing affection Wiesler gains for the actress and coincidentally the underground freedom movement, mostly as it is represented by artists and their friends. While his efficiency is amply evident in his cool detachment, similar to that of Rafe Fiennes in Schindler's List and Serg Lopez in Pan's Labyrinth, his humanity seeps out at the edges as he becomes vicariously involved in the artists' lives. First-time director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck misses not a beat in slowly revealing the hearts of all his principals while he creates a plot remarkably interesting for a character-driven piece.

Few films could mine the rich conflict between the totalitarian state and artists who yearn for freedom of expression, between the loyalties of friends and lovers and the crushing exigency of survival. Lives of Others shows how difficult it is to watch others' lives unfold and not be drawn to their passion. It's rough out there: No other film of 2006 showed that cliché better. Here's looking at you, best film of the year.

The story presents an era of total surveillance where anything not in line with the will of the party leaders is punished. Arguments do not exist, just the use of power. I think the story is valid. However it only reflects how people from the West can imagine, interpret and understand life in East Germany. During watching this film I had ambivalent feelings. Ulrich Mühe's performance really gives an authentic example of a Stasi officer and gives us a real feeling what the totalitarian system means. However I think the film lacks authenticity in some sense. Only those feel this subtle lack who have lived in an Easter European country. As a verification I guessed which actor has grown up in East Germany and which not. Then I checked their biographies that 90% confirmed my guesses. Those who have not grown up in East Germany only act. Those who lived in the totalitarian system really give us the authenticity. In summary, I think this is a very good film and the only I know of that exposes the surveillance of totalitarian systems. The performance of Ulrich Mühe as Hauptmann Gerd Wiesler alone make this film worth seeing. For those who might be interested in the topic I recommend reading the book Celestial Harmonies: A Novel from Péter Esterházy and its second part (Celestial Harmonies: A Novel (P.S.)). In film you could watch any film from Krzysztof Kieslowski, Péter Gothár or Péter Bacsó.

The first scene is amazing : you're watching a STASI class, where an interrogatory is meticulously analyze and deconstructed with a scientific method : if the person calms down after a while, she's lying, if she tells the exact same story twice, she's guilty... After this introduction to the method, we're about to watch its application. But unfortunately, watching the live of the others without interfering their live isn't that easy. And the cold Stasi agent will share empathy for his future victims.

The way the inhuman agent (greatly plays by Ulrich Mühe) slowly becomes an anonymous hero ( he'll stay a serial number to the end, hidden in the shadows of more brightly people) to the contact of passion, love and art (music, theater and literature), symbolized by the couple he's suppose to watch, is very convincing and greatly develops. The direction of the movie is sober and matured, the actor are all good, and the script is clever enough to give an impression of realism to the all story.

For all this "objectiv" reasons, this movie is definitely a good movie, and you leave the theater with the impression of having watch a serious piece of art of quality. But still, you wondering... If it was so good, why haven't you really been moved by the story, why this indifference toward the characters, why have you watch it with so little passion ? Of course, the theme, the period and the atmosphere of the film appeals sobriety, it's voluntary made that way. Right, but still, you can't help having the impression that something is missing to this movie, that this lack of passion doesn't necessarily have to move from the characters to the spectators, that the description of a cold and sad age doesn't have to be manufactured that way.

In fact, it's madness this film lacks : it's missing a surprising event that wakes the spectator from the monotony of a "interesting" feature. Of course, this could have broke the harmony and unity of the movie, and make another "Black Book" instead of a so "well done" piece of art, but at least, you wouldn't have the impression of watching a nearly scholar movie, made by a good student, who gives you everything you're waiting for in a German movie about the STASI setting in 1984, and doesn't really leave any room to surprise.

Memories of the 70's and 80's visits in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) flood my mind while watching this film. Some are revolting, some comical and others are frightening. As a student of German, I visited the GDR several times to see pen pal friends. I remember one friend looking around and whispering to me in the S-Bahn - just in case one of the many "IM's" (unofficial workers of the Stasi) was listening in.

I visited a representative of a magazine for western countries about the GDR and spent one memorable weekend sightseeing with her. Near the end of my visit, she asked me if I would work for them regularly by writing my opinion of "GDR Review" and its suitability for readers in the West. I would be paid in GDR money to use during further visits. After politely refusing this "offer" ("The police at home might not like it!"), I always had a sneaking suspicion that that was an attempt by the Stasi to recruit me.

Years later I applied to see my "Stasi File". I will never forget the feeling deep inside me when I read in it: ".….is not suitable for our use due to his apparent connection to the police in his homeland." The beautiful, friendly lady in Dresden had been a Stasi informer all the time! All of my visits to the GDR and the people I visited were listed in that file. For me "The Lives of Others" is an authentic representation of that totalitarian state. I am glad that those times have ended.

Congratulations on a well deserved Oscar!

I've been taking German lessons for about 2 months now, and since movies were great in helping me learn English language I'm always looking for German films to watch (as well as German music to listen to) in order to educate my ears.

Anyway, I went to this place where I get all sort of rare movies and this one caught my attention... and I had no idea it got the Oscar for foreign language film this year! So I watched it without prejudice and... what did I find? A MASTERPIECE! This is the kind of movie that gets your attention from the first moment, and makes you interested in understanding the characters' psyche, which is very varied: you have the idealistic good guys, the idealistic bad guys, the people that broad their minds understanding that no political dogma is better than individual freedom, etc. And even though the movie has very tough moments it is all so well done and presented with such a good taste that in the end you feel some sort of relieved.

In this present day, when the ghost of authoritarian regimes still fly over our heads (in my country we're getting closer and closer to that reality), this movie will make you think about how important love, life and freedom are.

A must see!

Holy cow! What a terrific movie! I am a voting member of the Academy (actor's branch) so I get all the films for free. I've seen everything---60 films. This was one of the last 3 films that I saw---because I was completely unfamiliar with the title. This film slowly gripped me, but by the end, the grip was merciless. The lead actor, who should be doing The Life Story Of Peter Jennings, was wonderful. Everybody was terrific. Congratulations to the writers for their perfect structure---and to the director for his flawless storytelling---and his eliciting of top performances from his actors. How well cast it was.

But now I'm totally bewildered. Why haven't I heard anything about this film? Where was this film at the Golden Globes? I haven't even seen any reviews about it. Nothing! What's going on? I'm very active in the film business. I follow this stuff. This film (that I never heard of) took me by surprise as no other film has ever done.

Note to the IMDb: This is not a spoiler.

Jesse Vint III

Brilliant.

East Berlin, 1984. The Cold War is still raging and the communist bloc does not trust its own citizens. A Secret Police agent is tasked with conducting surveillance on a writer and his lover. Over time, rather than being coldly distant, he finds himself being absorbed by their private lives...

A great examination of life in East Germany during Communist rule, and how empathy can overcome fascism. Perfect ending.

Great performances all round, especially from the three main actors - Martina Gedeck, Ulrich Muhe and Sebastian Koch.

Well deserved its Best Foreign Language Film Oscar in 2007, and should have been nominated for more than just that.

In the very first minutes of The Lives of Others, the unassuming Captain Gerd Wiesler (Muhe) sits in a small office interrogating a prisoner of the East German Stasi. He records his progress on tape and within hours Wiesler exhausts his prisoner to the point of confession, The tape stops; Wiesler is in a classroom teaching pupils at the university how to do the same. Within those first minutes we get a strong impression of his character; calculated, reserved and above all meticulous. It's those traits along with his dedication to Communism that make him a perfect surveillance man, at least according to Grubitz (Tukur) his supervisor.

After attending a show by the popular playwright Georg Dreyman (Koch), Wiesler and Grubitz take an interest in the internationally acclaimed artist. A nationalist, a pro-Communist and loyal to the government; he must be up to no good figures the curious Wiesler. With the coaxing of the Minister of Culture (Thieme), Wiesler sets up a surveillance operation in the attic of Dreyman's apartment complex and places bugs throughout his abode. It is only after weeks of listening does Wiesler realize the Minister has an interest in Dreyman's mistress Christa (Gedeck). Grubitz sees room for advancement if they manage to find dirt on the playwright but Wiesler becomes enveloped in the complex and intriguing lives of Dreyman and Christa. Wiesler even starts to participate quietly in the shadows, making decisions that could change the fate of all involved forever.

The essence of The Lives of Others script is essentially political. The workings of the Stasi serve its own self-survival by becoming a tool of Ministers and party elites. What matters more isn't the innocence or guilt of those who commit crimes against the State but whether those under suspicion have the political clout to protect themselves. Those who don't have two remedies, arrest or suicide. It is in-fact a suicide that initiates Dreyman's disillusionment with the entire system and kicks the torrent of dramatics into high gear. That and Christa's abusive relationship with the Minister.

Yet there's something much deeper and beautiful about the story than merely being a manifesto against big brother. The acting is so nuanced and superb that the characters become the focal point of audience emotional investment and story tension. Ulrich Muhe especially deserves praise as a foil to Sebastian Koch's Dreyman. Both become disillusioned but for opposite reasons. While Dreyman starts seeing the forest through the trees sort to speak, Wiesler starts seeing people as people instead of abstractions or obstacles of a Communist ideal.

There was much ado about The Lives of Others winning Best Foreign Language film at the Academy Awards over the heavy favorite Pan's Labyrinth (2006). Both are beautifully rendered political parables with tenacious emotional strength yet while one has a sense of exhaustive grandeur and filigree, the other is muted, meticulous, and pensive in its plotting. While some may balk at the thought of a reticent thriller, The Lives of Others uses its less ostentatious style to its advantage as evidenced by the dark green mis en scene of Stasi HQ, the faded warmth of Dreyman's apartment and the sooty grays of the attic where Wiesler quietly listens.

The story unravels nicely although a bit too slow for my taste. Yet I really like how the opening exposes the meticulous practice of the Stasi. The introduction of the characters Dreyman and Sieland is also nice, especially if, like me, you watch the movie without any prior knowledge toward this movie. The transition that Wiesler undergoes during the movie is portrayed nicely. This is even better because the movie uses less scene montages. The depiction of Grubitz's dangerous character through bits and pieces scattered along this movie is also nice. I like how Ulrich Muhe played the calm yet meticulous and then the affected version of Wiesler. Martina Gedeck also shows a good performance and went total on this movie. Sebastian Koch does well in completing this movie with his performance of quite an undecided character.

Can you imagine a world where people are continuously spied on, where the police set up surveillance equipment in the attics, where even typewriters are registered and, in spite of this,a world accepting of refugees? I am not talking about science fiction. I am talking about real life, the real events that took place in East Germany before the Fall of the Wall.While I was watching 'The lives of others'I couldn't help comparing it to another film, 'Good Bye, Lenin'; both are widely applauded approaches to the recent history of East Germany. But I think one of them is definitely superior to the other; read on if you'd like to know which.Both films are German and were released more or less at the same time -around 2005- and they share factual accuracy and the atmosphere of that historical period, although the first one takes place mainly in the years before the Fall of the Wall and the second, in the years immediately after. Both films have a lot in common, such as an appealing theme, plausible dialogues, lots of moving scenes and convincing acting. In spite of sharing a common theme, they have different approaches, since 'The lives of others' shows the story of a playwright who is being spied on by 'the Party'. What is a cold relationship at the beginning of the story turns into sympathy, what seems love turns into treason, what should have been informing on somebody turns into respect and admiration. On the other hand, 'Good bye, Lenin!'is very innovative mainly because it has a large dose of comedy, which is remarkably powerful. When his mother suffers a heart attack and awakes from a coma seriously weakened, Alex, the main character has to pretend that nothing has changed, that East Berlin is the same as it was before the Fall of the Wall, because a great shock like that could cause her death, so there he goes doing the impossible to keep the 'status quo'. This situation leads to entertaining scenes and appealing dialogue. In addition, both films were recorded on set and on location -we can enjoy watching what Karl Marx Allee looked like almost thirty years ago.However, although both films portray our recent history very convincingly, I strongly recommend 'Good bye, Lenin!'because it is funny, moving and grabs your attention from the very first moment. And it can also make you think!

Remember Total Recall? The sci-fi movie about people who get memory implants? Looks like that just happened to the viewers of The Lives of Others (LOO) , who are now convinced they know all about the GDR. • It was always cloudy. • Everybody wore either a uniform or tasteful clothes in muted shades of gray, blue, or brown. • The streets were empty. • Only two kinds of people lived there—dissident artists and police spies. • There was a major shortage of women. • Everyone spoke in a flat, lifeless way (flat and lifeless--in Berlin??). • Nobody ever wore red or put on ugly flowered polyester shirts, nor did they raise kids, go to bars, shop for cold cuts, play miniature golf, or listen to Elvis Presley.

Of course, as soon as you think about this, you realize that the movie is not about a real country at all, but about one of those abstract, generic totalitarian dystopias—1984 (Winston and Julia ratting on each other), Minority Report, bits of Star Wars (the slimy toad-monster molesting Princess Leah) and above all, THX 1138, with gray hairless people grimly marching along gray sunless corridors while security forces keep flawless records on everybody. In other words, LOO creates a montage of spliced, recycled images from sci-fi movies to implant a generic image of "the totalitarian state" in our minds as our "memory" of the GDR.

If we accused the director of playing games with these images, he would probably respond disingenuously that he made a movie about a state of mind and not a historical documentary. Funny though how many people (to judge from the reviews) believe that now they know something about the GDR. Well, what's wrong with a false memory, as long as it's anti-communist?

And on the subject of falsehoods, take a look at a little sleight of hand the director tries to pull:: 1) The protagonist is understandably unhappy about the suicide of his friend. 2) The GDR did stop publishing suicide statistics (actually even earlier than 1977, as is discussed in a 1972 Radio Free Europe research report that you can see online). 3) Before the GDR stopped publishing the figures, it had a very high rate, probably the second highest in Europe after Hungary. So far, so good, but now keep your eyes open as the rabbit is pulled out of the hat! So it logically follows that the communist regime caused the high suicide rate-- right? Wait a minute! This conclusion is a logical non sequitur and a misrepresentation of historical facts. The regions comprising the GDR (especially Saxony, Prussia, and Mecklenburg, with Brandenburg not far behind) already had some of the highest suicide rates in Europe as early as the period from the 1860s to the 1880s, when these data were first systematically made available. The rate in Saxony (think Dresden and Chemnitz) was consistently the highest in Europe throughout this period. But these historical and sociological facts might inconveniently interfere with the simple anti-communist message.

Don't worry, I am not about to undertake the Herculean task of defending the GDR—and indeed there was a lot not to like. But if you really want to know something about it, not just wallow in feel-good anti-Communism, see Goodbye, Lenin, an infinitely better movie than LOO. Two negative perspectives, but both of them more serious than LOO, are Jan Schutte's Abschied/Farewell: Brecht's Last Summer and Peter Kahane's The Architects, about a group of young urban planners. And try some GDR movies, many of which had a more critical and humorous edge than you might expect, such as Egon Gunther's Der Dritte, a comedy about a slatternly, feisty single mom and bus cleaner. Yes, ordinary working people actually existed, rode on buses, drank beer, ate cold cuts, went to jobs, raised kids, enjoyed sex, and stood up to their bosses (the chronic labor shortage allowed workers to be far less subservient at the workplace than the "free" and pathetically insecure American employee has to be). The subject of the relative autonomy and equality of women is way to big to get into—Christa-Maria's limp victim-hood was not typical—you can check this out in Christel Lane's article on women in the GDR in Sociology, Volume 17, no. 4, November,1989.

Bottom line on LOO: Don't believe everything you see; and you will see disappointingly little of the very attractive Sebastian Koch, whose talents are wasted in a glum and sexless part..