The Lives of Others (Das Leben der Anderen)

Certainly better than Volver but…….. (probably spoilers)

wasn’t incredibly moved. Maybe I was just tired.. but I never got as emotionally attached as Ulrich Mühe’s character is. And shouldn’t we, as audience members, feel those emotions along with Ulrich to appreciate his sacrifice? Don’t get me wrong..this is a great debut and wonderfully cast… just don’t really like the heavy score and theatrical lighting… some of the connections are way too literal…art transforming people. Intentionally sympathetic to oppressed artists..no wonder it won all these awards.

One thing I would like to point out is that it’s a nice history lesson.  The secret police of former East Germany… pretty scary and fascinating that it existed right up to the wall falling. Â

All together…good film (better than Volver) but there are plenty of others to see first.