The Lives of Others is a suspense drama about surveillance in Eastern Germany before the fall of the Berlin Wall. It follows agent XX/7 as he listens in on the lives of right-wing playwright Georg Dreyman and his wife and actress Christa-Maria Sieland. The movie is excellent, but did not live up to my (somewhat high) expectations. I liked how it conveyed the emotional connection and almost unstoppable attraction between the viewer and the subject, although the metaphor does not extend very well into the actual film audience and the film itself, which I was hoping it would. The ending is surprisingly tender. The extent of XX/7's sacrifice for these people he knows so intimately yet must forever remain anonymous to was unexpected and quite moving. The cinematography was crisp, the camera movements fluid, and the editing natural. The acting and music were also good, although the dialogue and the script as a whole seemed to be trying a bit too hard to make a point.There were also some aspects I didn't like. The first is that some parts of the movie were extremely confusing. I don't know if it was bad directing, bad subtitles, or simply that the characters' actions meant more than I saw, but I definitely missed some explanations and motivations for events in the middle of the movie. Many scenes seemed superfluous and some parts in the beginning and middle were a bit slow. There is a very bizarre scene near the beginning involving a very full-bodied prostitute, which I really did not understand at all. Also, there is a lot of talking, which means for those who don't understand German, there is a lot of reading. Overall, a very good movie and recommended to anyone who might be interested.
IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0405094/