Synopsis: Everyone knows what the Cold War is. Hell, even if you didn't care about anything historic you've probably heard of the Berlin Wall. After the Second World War, there was a split in Germany between the United Nations occupied zones and the Soviet Union zones. Berlin was hence split into these zones as well into West Berlin and East Berlin. This story takes place in jolly East Berlin. The hero is Hauptmann Gerd Wiesler who is a captain of the STASI (state security). His job is to listen to people's secrets. Well, he gets assigned to a poet, Gerog Dreyman, who is being suspected of writing secrets about the East and sending them to the West. Wiesler is a hard ass and he'll do everything he can for socialism. That is until he becomes infactuated with Dreyman's girl friend, Christa-Maria Sieland. Now, the captain is torn between his state duties and his love for this strange woman which makes him question his integrity and the integrity of the state he swore to serve.Should You Watch It? This film blows the hell outta The Departed and it shows how gay the Oscars really are. This still won best foreign film but it should have won best film cause this film was definitely the cream of the crop in 2006. Not only does this film tell the story from the point of the view of an anti-hero, it does well in shedding light onto the lives of officers during this time and debates the question: Is there a difference between loyality and blind faith? it asks this question well below the surface of a very captivating and tragic love triangle. I'm afraid if I go on I'll ruin it so I'm just going to stop and tell you loyal readers to watch it. Unless, you have a problem with German or reading subtitles.
Things to Watch Out For: This film is great because of the dialogue or maybe it was just because of the subtitles haha. This film is all about the things they don't say and how people avoid their problems and ultimately their lives. Wiesler is the most dynamic and tragic hero I've seen since, well, Hamlet I guess. He's so interesting in that he seems to do nothing through out the movie, but his arc is in his mind and beliefs. This seems impossible to show on screen but the writer/director does a brilliant job in showing this to us by showing us what's missing in Wiesler life and eventually his work. Oh, and the actress who plays Christa (Martina Gedeck) is pretty hot.
Things You Don't Expect: The acting is just amazing! It's unbelievable. I don't know if it's just these actors or if German acting school is just that much better than North America! I'm not saying I had the notion that German theatre is not good, I just never knew anything about German actors so I was surprised at how little recognition they recieve. Having said all that stuff about Wiesler's character, I still would have liked to see more of his story, but that's minor. Oh yeah! the ending! Ugh! Absolutely beautiful.
Final Comments:
Story: 9.0
Direction: 8.2 (Florian Henckle von Donnersmarck)
Acting: 9.5
Cinematography: 7.5
Music/Sound: 8.8
Final Score: 9.1
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