The Lives of Others

Righteousness: This is what is beautifully portrayed in this German classic movie. The movie focuses on a cultural scene in Germany during the post 1980s, when the Stasi rule prevailed and the country led by hoodwinkers. A very reliable Stasi agent (Ulrich Muhe) is assigned the task of surveillance, under the name HGW XX/7, of a Socialist play writer and journalist (Sebastian Koch) (it was Communist rule so it wasn’t uncommon for the ministers to bug Socialists’ homes and charge them for going against the government). This writer’s girl friend is a prominent actress (Martina Gedeck) who stars in his plays. The Minister (writer’s political rival) also fancies the actress.  Muhe, although he plays a communist in this movie, gradually begins protecting the writer and his writings against the government. As the surveillance progresses Muhe discovers that Martina has been secretly having intimate relations with the Minister, although she is repulsed by him. She is forced to obey him as he could easily destroy her entire acting career. Muhe brilliantly exposes Gedeck’s infidelity to Koch but also realizes Koch and Gedeck are deeply in love. Despite the cheating, the lovers stay together and she stops seeing the Minister. Muhe realizes the true intentions of the Minister to overthrow his rival, Koch and have Gedeck for himself. Meanwhile, one of Koch’s close writer friends, who has a ban on his writing, commits suicide shortly after Koch’s 40^th birthday party. Furious, Koch decides to publish an article on the concealed suicide rates in Berlin from 1977. He mainly focuses on Albert as the subject and the abuse he faced by the government. He publishes it anonymously using a smuggled typewriter given to him by his accomplices (all legal typewriters were registered and the government would eventually trace the article to its writer). The higher Stasi officials pressurized by the Govt., charge Gedeck with illegal drug usage and get it out of her the hiding place of the typewriter at Koch’s. The brilliance here is, the interrogation was carried out by Muhe; he leaves as soon as it’s over and picks up the typewriter as Koch as no idea of Gedeck’s fickle-mindedness and believes her to be his ‘guardian angel’ (seriously?!). The Stasi officials, having failed to find the typewriter, leave Koch’s and right then Gedeck, out of guilt, runs out of the apartment and into a truck bam: she’s dead. The mission is closed and Muhe’s career comes to an end and he becomes a postman. Koch finds out later from the Minister himself that even he was bugged all over and the Govt knew, in entirety, his plans and that they would’ve nabbed him if found that he was the writer of the article that caused unrest amongst ministers. A mirth Koch, refusing to believe all this, looks for more info at the research dept and finds out about the agent who kept an eye on him. He goes to meet up with the agent but for some reason he doesn’t approach him.

Two years later, Muhe sees a book by Koch titled ‘Sonata of Good Men’ and on the cover page inside written “To HWG XX/7, with gratitude”.

What is amazing about this movie is Muhe’s strong sense of justice and his principles which never let him steer the wrong path no matter who he’s working for. The Communist/Socialist labels didn’t matter to him when it came to doing what’s right. In the end the Minister’s decadence is outlined by the fall of the Berlin wall. A truly emotion-stirring movie!