The Lives of Others *****
Die Leben Der Anderen

Yay! It's 2006's First Five-Star Movie!

Director: Florian Henkel von Donnersmark

Writer: Florian Henkel von Donnersmark

Stars: Ulrich Muhe, Sebastian Koch, Martina Gedenk

This is the best film of the year so far. Everything about it is exquisite. The tone and place is set with style and assurance, all grey square Soviet buildings, clunky plastic technology, and brown tweed clothes. Its pace builds slowly, drawing us in with intrigue, then building to a nail-biting thriller in the final twenty minutes. A tale of fear and rebellion under an oppressive regime, it's got it all: tragedy, excitement, fear (as the Germans would say, angst), and then finally, beautiful, clear blue hope.

The story centres around two protaganists: the idealistic (and really rather dishy) playwright Georg Dreyman (Koch) and the calculating Stasi loner Gerd Wiesler (Muehe), who is charged with spying on him. As he watches the somewhat bohemian existence of the writer, he first becomes jealous of his popularity and charisma, then angry at his impudence, and eventually comes to identify with him. This change is brought to life by Henkel von Donnersmark's fine, sure-handed direction (made even more amazing by the fact that this is his debut feature) and Muehe's muted pathos. The ending reduced my five companions and I all to tears: it is one example of a "several years later" sequence being used to great effect and fully rounding out a story, rather than being tacked on the end as an afterthought.

Above all, this is a very human story: it is about humanity triumphing over inhumanity. All this made it deserving of winning the Best Foreign Film Oscar. And it must be good. Its competition was Pan's Labyrinth.

This is another in a long line of great films to come out of Germany in recent years: as their economy becomes stronger, the Germans are beginning to draw on their rich history to make amazing films helmed by sure-handed, innovative directors: Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run), Oliver Hirschbiegel (Downfall) and now Henkel von Donnersmark are certainly directors to watch. It will be interesting to see what Bryan Singer (Superman Returns - eek) et al can do with this rich, multi-layered history in Valkyrie, out next year. Will they blockbuster it up? Or will they rise above Hollywood conventions to show the delicate and intricate aspects of the story of Hitler's attempted assassination. Either way, it is unlikely that they will come up with something as rich and moving as this film.

CONCLUSION: It's hard to pick apart a film so perfect. This is filmmaking at its best. Seek it out.