The Lives of Others

The Lives of Others was released way back in 2006 and won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2007 Oscars. I read great reviews on it all during that time and, when it came out on dvd, we ordered it through our Blockbuster online deal and received it in the mail--six months ago.

I don't know about anyone else, but I have to be in the right mood to commit 2.5 hours to a film--especially an indie, subtitled film. My wife is the same way, so it took a looong time for us to both simultaneously be ready and willing to make the commitment.

I'm so glad we did.

This film was not perfect, but it was very, very, very good. It is set in 1984, in the GDR (East Germany), and focuses on the thorough monitoring of everything and everybody by the East German government. Ultimately, it is a story of one man who works for the government, keeping tabs on people, and the transformation that occurs within him when he is assigned to monitor a young writer.

I won't ruin it, but if you've passed it by on the selves wondering whether or not you want to invest the time and energy, let me assure you it's worth it. This movie will stick with me for a long time. Watch the interview with the director in the extras section too.

As always with anything I recommend, do your own homework to see if it's for you. You can read more about the film here.