Florian Henkel von Donnersmarck on Lives of Others

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Lives of Others took the Academy Award by storm in 2007, and won the Oscar for the Best Foreign Film. It was an extraordinary achievement for Florian Henckel Donnersmarck. This was Donnersmarcks first film, which he wrote and directed, and went on to win the Oscar! The New Yorker magazine and Wall Street Journal said it was the best film of the past year. Very rarely the critics agree on something. However, one thing that they have universally agreed on is the acclaim for Lives of Others. The New York Times wrote, The suspense comes not only from the structure and pacing of the scenes, but also, more deeply, from the sense that even in a oppressive society, individuals are burdened with free will. The New York Post said the film is a remarkable and chilling. Chicago Tribune stated, works beautifully, both as a social and psychological drama and as a taut, tightly wired thriller. and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution cleverly characterizes the film as a brilliant political thriller with a rich emotional context and a dark sense of humor; this Oscar winner should be at the top of any movie-lovers list. Lives of Others generated $70 million in revenue and has had one of the highest profit margins in 2007. Synopsis of Lives of Others East Berlin, November 1984. Five years before its downfall, the former East-German government ensured its claim to power with a ruthless system of control and surveillance. Party-loyalist Captain Gerd Wiesler hopes to boost his career when given the job of collecting evidence against the playwright Georg Dreyman and his girlfriend, the celebrated theater actress Christa-Maria Sieland. After all, the "operation" is backed by the highest political circles. What he didn't anticipate, however, was that submerging oneself into the world of the target also changes the surveillance agent. The immersion in the lives of others--in love, literature, free thinking and speech--makes Wiesler acutely aware of the meagerness of his own existence and opens to him a completely new way of life which he has ever more trouble resisting. But the system, once started, cannot be stopped. A dangerous game has begun.