Hans-Uwe Bauer

A man who has devoted his life to ferreting out "dangerous" characters is thrown into a quandary when he investigates a man who poses no threat in this drama, the first feature from German filmmaker Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck. It's 1984, and Capt. Gerd Wiesler (Ulrich Mühe) is an agent of the Stasi, the East German Secret Police. Weisler carefully and dispassionately investigates people who might be deemed some sort of threat to the state. Shortly after Weisler's former classmate, Lt. Col. Grubitz (Ulrich Tukur), invites him to a theatrical piece by celebrated East German playwright Georg Dreyman (Sebastian Koch), Minister Bruno Hempf (Thomas Thieme) informs Weisler that he suspects Dreyman of political dissidence, and wonders if this renowned patriot is all that he seems to be. As it turns out, Hempf has something of an ulterior motive for trying to pin something on Dreyman: a deep-seated infatuation with Christa-Maria Sieland (Martina Gedeck), Dreyman's girlfriend. Nevertheless, Grubitz, who is anxious to further his career, appoints Weisler to spy on the gentleman with his help. Weisler plants listening devices in Dreyman's apartment and begins shadowing the writer. As Weisler monitors Dreyman's daily life, however (from a secret surveillance station in the gentleman's attic), he discovers the writer is one of the few East Germans who genuinely believes in his leaders. This changes over time, however, as Dreyman discovers that Christa-Maria is being blackmailed into a sexual relationship with Hempf, and one of Dreyman's friends, stage director Albert Jerska (Volkmar Kleinert), is driven to suicide after himself being blackballed by the government. Dreyman's loyalty thus shifts away from the East German government, and he anonymously posts an anti-establishment piece in a major newspaper which rouses the fury of government officials. Meanwhile, Weisler becomes deeply emotionally drawn into the lives of Dreyman and Sieland, and becomes something of an anti-establishment figure himself, embracing freedom of thought and expression. A major box-office success in Germany, Das Leben der Anderen (aka The Lives of Others) received its North American premiere at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This interesting German psychological thriller is set during the fall of the Berlin Wall. Just before the fence comes down, 30-year veteran border guard Hermann takes three days off from his station to attend his wife's funeral. Unknowing of the massive changes that occurred in his absence, he goes back to work and finds he has no work to do. Unlike some of his colleagues, Hermann has trouble finding a new niche in his newly unified country and so continues showing up at his post, filing the usual reports and keeping vandals at bay. Things take a darker turn when he begins interviewing imaginary travelers heading across the non-existent border. Eventually, his obsession drives him over the edge and he captures two hostages and chains them to his post. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Based on a switched identity, in circumstances that are found in real life as well as fiction, this drama tells the story of two soldiers fighting together in World War I. Karl (Joachim Latsch) and Richard (Hans-Use Bauer) become close friends while serving time in a German POW camp. One day Karl manages a successful escape and goes to Richard's home where he seeks refuge posing as Richard. But Richard's wife Anna (Kathrin Waligura) has never given up hope that her husband is still alive -- a possibility that would shatter Karl's proposed new life. In fact, Richard did not die in the POW camp. This film shared the Grand Prix award at the 1985 Berlin Film Festival.
~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This story of mistaken identity was taken from the experiences of writer Hermann Kant when he was a 19-year-old soldier in the German Wehrmacht. In the film, the soldier is drafted into the army just after the siege of Stalingrad in 1943 and is taken prisoner in Poland, where a mother has accused him of being the SS man who killed her daughter earlier in the war. While in prison he is given dangerous work in the prison yard but survives intact. Eventually, the soldier hears about the extermination camps of Lublin, Auschwitz and other sites, and has changed his feelings toward the army. Meanwhile, his case is coming up for review and even a jail companion from his same army unit is afraid to come to his defense because of possible repercussions. This film was withdrawn from competition at the 1983 Berlin Film Festival because of objections to its content. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide