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Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others)

Wednesday, October 17 at 7:00 p.m. (Shown in Boyd Hall 144)

Germany, 2006, 137 min.

Director: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck           

German with English subtitles

An Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Language Film, Das Leben der Anderen is writer-director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's seductive and suspenseful recreation of an East Berlin under heavy government surveillance. The Stasi, a secret police and intelligence agency, is trying to create computer files on every citizen, most importantly opponents of the ruling party. It's customary for Wiesler, a stoic Stasi operative, to carefully and dispassionately collect information on artists, intellectuals, and, in this case, playwright Dreyman and his actress-girlfriend. However, in documenting their lives, Wiesler's objectivity is irrevocably compromised as he becomes deeply emotionally drawn into their lives, and becomes something of an anti-establishment figure himself, embracing freedom of thought and expression. (Facets)