Oscar Worthy

On Sunday evening I saw the 2007 Oscar-winning movie, this year’s Best Foreign Language Film, “Das Leben der Anderen” or “The Lives of Others.” If you have a chance, go see it. Maybe it’s playing in DC at the Goethe Institut or at E Street Cinema. Otherwise, rent it on DVD.

It's a superbly-done film, with a script and visual and musical tone that hauntingly reveals the mistrust, corruption, and struggles of life in communist Germany. Set in the 1980s, the film follows an east German secret police agent -- a Stasi -- as he spies on a playwright and his actress girlfriend. Ulrich Muehe as Gerd Wiesler is genius in this lead role, beginning as a cold and sharp-edged spy and developing into a sympathetic character. Christa-Maria Sieland (played by Martina Gedeck) most vividly struggles with self preservation, self interest, career, love, loyalty, ethics, and the entanglements of each that don’t allow them to co-exist. The movie made me think about what it means to be a “good” person. Is it black and white or what are the shades of grey? And it made me think about opportunity – how much we have of it! It’s hard to imagine life in the GDR where people were blackmailed, blacklisted, or forced into an existence they couldn’t choose (and this was not too long ago – the wall only fell in 1989 – and there are people around the world still fighting for rights, freedom, and opportunity). It’s a thought-provoking film and definitely worth seeing. Hey, don’t take it from me, take it from Oscar!