Quoting myself in the Pan's vs. Lives Oscar thread:



Get's a very solid A

I for one am extremely grateful this beat Pan's Labyrinth. Say what you will about Pan's (I found it to be the most over-rated film of the year), but it will be one of the most well-remembered foreign language films to ever be released in America. The Lives of Others on the other hand doesn't have the gothic creature visuals to lure general audiences in, and probably won't pass 5 million total. Now it can have a "Academy Award Winner - Best Foreign Film 2006" to show off on the cover to get people to rent it.

As for the film itself, I thought it was a masterpiece and would absolutely joing my top list of the year. The characters are deeply layered, the detail to history and setting are spectactular, and in addition to having one of the sharpest scripts of the year - the last line is one of the my all time favorites - it's spectactularly directed to keep the viewer biting their nails throughout. A must see for any lover of great films.

A great story with strong acting. Ulrich Mühe deserves at least a nomination in any awards he is up for. I love it when a story feels simple but yet important. It's also my first time seeing a film targeting this East vs. West Germany angle, and the script even found room for some sharp humor among all the seriousness. There are a couple of points that prevented it from being a straight A for me. One is having that death occur toward the end is a cheap way to try to logically stop the investigation, even though in real life, communist government could continue to search and pursue the case; it wouldn't be that easy for them to stop. Also, the transformation Wiesler showed happened a little too fast. It's similar to how I felt about Edward Norton's change in American History X. I wish to see like 10-15 more minutes of material. Still, a film people should see and will most certainly stay in my top 10 throughout the year.

A-

Those were my two minor grievances as well. Although, I'm not sure I agree about the transition. It couldn't really have been drawn out...if it had, he would have reported something, and the story would have ended. It needed to be a sudden, but unmarked change of heart to work.

As the wizard said in The Wizard of Oz: "Don't pay any attention to the man behind the curtain".

Anyone who thinks anything like the events which occur in this movie, are still occuring today, is clearly an enemy of freedom.

Still, it is extremely well executed and clearly deserved it's Oscar win over the vastly over-rated Pan's Labyrinth -- perhaps the director of TLOO should have included a few literal pixies and ogres to appease the FX crowd...

Rating deleted by Internal Security.

The lead looks like Kevin Spacey.

Yea I thought that from the poster as well.

This was a thoroughly engaging movie with strong performances and great directing. I don't know if I would rate it higher than Pan's Labyrinth, but it was a worthy choice for Best Foreign Language Film.

A-

4.5/5

It's a simple story, but among the most tightly executed films of the year... period. Maybe even of the last few years. There's nothing like a wiretap or undercover film to create suspense, but even with that, it just oozes off the screen here. By the time the investigation starts cracking down on Christi, my heart was beating like mad. (Though I agree with xiayun's complaints about the hastiness of the end of the investigation and Weisler not being further investigated).

The acting is uniformly superb, and the conflicts the characters are thrown into is perfectly realized. East Germany feels authentic with the setting and set design being spot on. What's more, this movie is kind of lively. It even has wit and charm at moments. It's definitley not stuffy foreign cinema.

For the genre, you really can't ask for more than this. It's an extremely tight thriller that both excites and pays attention to its characters.

Looked. He died this year.

B+


It was a good movie, but in my opinion, it pales in comparison to the two German movies nominated for Best Foreign Picture previously to this one: Sophie Scholl and, especially, Downfall. Those were more masterful. Moreover, while I liked thi flick, Pan's Labyrinth was simply the better movie in my opinion and deserved that win more.

However, that shouldn't take away from the solid film that The Lives of Others is. The biggest kudos go to Ulrich Mühe (RIP) for his great subtle performance as Gerd Wiesler. I thought his transformation was perfect and not too fast. Its the very slight changes in the expression of his ( usually emotionless) face that you see more and more till the end of the film. Mühe carries the film and is its heart and soul. Sebastian Koch and Martina Gedeck deliver solid turns as well, but they all pale when compared to Mühe.

Some of the gripes I had about the film were, as mentioned above, Martina Gedeck's suicide as an easy way out (though it fit to the development of her character actually) and, even more, the fact that it had about as many endings as Return of the King. Onceit started jumping more and more into the future really quickly it started feeling rushed and out of place. I understand the intention behind all that, but somehow it didn't fit in well with the rest of this otherwise very well-made film.

Not as good as Pan's, but still a gripping, thought-provoking and simply spectacular film.

A+

I thought i'd reviewed this early last year but i mustnt have.

I have to admit I liked it alot better than Downfall which I found a little dissapointing (my expectations were too high). I also dont have any problems with her suicide at the end - considering how her life had spiralled. She was damaged goods and you could see she was heading to such a conclusion throughout the film. I can see why not everyone will love the film - but it really struck a chord with me.

I really need to watch the second half of Pan's so i can see if this deserved to win over it or not.

Grade: A+

"Tight" is definitely the word to use here. The direction, the writing, the acting, all very finely done. I don't think the film ever truly struck that emotional chord that made me truly LOVE it, but I have a deep appreciation for the film overall, and Henckel-Donnersmarck is definitely a writer-director to keep an eye on. Great stuff.

***½

A really fantastic, haunting film. Maybe not quite as great as Pan's Labyrinth, but a worthy Best Foreign Language Film winner nonetheless.

A

BJs Grade:

A

wonderful film.

a very schematic movie by john fridolin elephant of donnersmarck III. but good nonetheless, especially if compared to other german tv movies such as der untergang and das experiment, however, fatih akin, the turkish rabaukenregisseur puts this to shame with some of his better works. this is more en par with tykwer's student movie attempts such as lola rennt, the ultra modern kieslowski (blind chance) rip-off with little content and value, but at least it is executed better than regular eichinger and hirschbiegel fare. then of course you could be mean and compare this to the better work of sascha fassbinder and werner herzog or even wim wenders and it would pale very much, so it's better to compare it to german cinema of recent years, then it seems pretty good already, if you take out fatih akin and helge schneider and maybe schlingensief. of course you could compare it to bully herbigs movies and then it looks like a masterpiece.

Did you like/have you seen Sophie Scholl?

I can't say it's a perfect film, but there is an extraordinarily subtle eye for detail and pace, and Muhe is stunning. It has a weird intimacy that really haunts you, too.

i have not seen it and i refuse to see it until it begs me to be seen!

'Sophie Scholl - Die letzten Tage' is one of the said german tv movies and as overrated as the rest.

It's tight, thrilling, and topical to boot!

I don't know if it deserved the Oscar over Pan's, but it's at least a very worthy winner, nonetheless.

Maybe I'll take off the DVDs shrinkwrap sometime.

maybe you should

Is that so, Dr. L.... er, Magnus?