In the former East Germany, no-one was above suspicion. Like George Orwell's vision of the future come to life, art and people and relationships were monitored obsessively; The Lives Of Others captures not only the paranoia and danger inherent in such a world, but also expresses hope that even in the most desperate situations, people can make a difference.

The story of The Lives Of Others unfolds mostly through the eyes of a secret service agent who's been given the task of spying on an artistic couple who've attracted the attention of the Minister of Culture. Little by little, he's drawn into their lives even as we're drawn into his; and as he loses his faith in the government, he must decide whether or not to try to hide the transgressions of those he's watching. As the physical danger and emotional cost mounts, it's impossible not to become utterly engrossed; intelligent and well-written, The Lives Of Others is also deeply moving.

It's rare to find a film that really deserves its rave reviews, and considering The Lives Of Others won a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, it's got a lot to live up to. Happily, it's more than just up to scratch--it's absolutely brilliant. --Sarah Dobbs

an authentic portrayal of the stasi spy system in Eastern Germany which prevailed before the collapse of the Berlin wall and which conscripted millions of its citizens to spy on each other and everyone else.
an intimate poignant representation via the its central characters, the film needs to be slow in order to capture the oppressive mood, and what developes subsequently..... but it never feels laboured .
remember that it is the director's first film which makes it even more significant.

I can't rate this film highly enough.
It's chilling because the background to the fictional characters of the GDR and the Stasi was a reality until the fall of the Berlin Wall and is part of Modern European History.
Particularly moving is the character of Wiesler, a sad and lonely man, moved by a single piece of music to become a human being instead of simply a cypher.
My only regret is my inability to speak German beyond a very few words, thus having to rely on subtitles!
Wonderful.

i have just watched this film for the second time and it is even better than i remembered.

Atmospheric, eveoctive of the time and gripping - cannot reccomend it enough

What can I say. Very rarely do I come across a film which actually makes a connection with my heart as well as my brain. It exposed the brutality and ruthlessness of the GDR and its secret police force, the Stasi, whilst subtley exposing the delicate and fragile lives of its citizens, as well as one of its operatives and his transition from enforcer to dissident. Bravo.

The Lives of Others is a great movie, but I can't rate it a masterpiece. On the plus side, the director has a total command of the medium, he knows how to make a suspenseful, thoughtful, entertaining movie, that holds the interest of the audience even at a running time that exceeds 2 hours. What's more, the acting is uniformly extraordinary. Let's talk now about the main problems I see with this film. The emotional heart of the movie is when the Stasi officer in charge of spying the playwright and his girlfriend, a very tough and experienced individual who presumably has worked in many similar cases before, decides instead to protect them. Why he would do that, risking an end to his career and even a charge of treason?. Though his motivations are not altogether clear (he is an extremely reserved man), the change of heart seems to happen in part after listening the playwright playing a sonata on the piano after learning one of his colleagues committed suicide, after years of harassment by the government (he is also uneasy after finding out the Stasi is going for the playwright not for ideological reasons but in order that his beautiful girlfriend would then be available for the repellent minister of culture). As a metaphor from his newly found sensibility, he even steals a book from Brecht from the playwright's house, and is seen reading it. Is this believable? As much as the audience would be moved by a story of redemption, I think it's not. This is not a minor quibble, since this change of heart is really the main plot twist of the movie, on which all the film is build. The ending has a great closing line, but is also a bit difficult to accept. From what I know, few if any Stasi officers have expressed any remorse from what they did, and continue to defend their actions. That aside, this is a great film, from a young director that really knows how to make a movie that is both highly entertaining and thought provoking. And it has many great scenes that you vividly remember later. The best one: the young Stasi officer making a ill-timed Honecker joke in the cafeteria. It's a scene that's so good on so many levels.