The Lives of Others

by Annie Ring

This study offers a fresh approach to the remarkable German film The Lives of Others (2006), known for its compelling representation of a Stasi surveillance officer and the moral and ethical turmoil that results when he begins spying on a playwright and his actress lover.

Annie Ring analyses the film's cinematography, mise-en-scène and editing, tracing connections with Hollywood movies such as Casablanca and Hitchcock's Torn Curtain in the film's portrayal of an individual rebelling against a brutal dehumanising regime. Drawing on archival sources, including primary research from the Stasi files themselves, as well as Enlightenment philosophies of art and Brecht’s theories on theatre dating from his GDR years, she explores the film's strong but much-disputed claims to historical authenticity. She examines the way the film tracks the world-changing political shift that took place at the end of the Cold War – away from the collective dreams of socialism and towards the dreams of the private individual, arguing that this is what makes it at once widely appealing and fascinatingly problematic. In doing so, she highlights why The Lives of Others is a crucial film for thinking at the horizon between film and recent world history.

Genres: Film, Nonfiction

104 pages, Paperback

First published October 6, 2022

About the author

Annie Ring is Lecturer in the Faculty of Arts & Humanities at University College London.

Reviews

[L Rowan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not very helpful for my A Level, although an interesting analysis. I think the text is too baroque, too rich in flowery language, for concepts that couldve been explained simply. It gave some interesting insight into the film, but not enough, and too many personal opinions.

[Russio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perhaps uniquely amongst the BFI collection titles that I have read this far, the writer of this slim volume seems to have some major reservations about the film 8n question, even if she talks herself a little out of them in her pleased rendering of the messes of the film's ending. The case against is broadly: 1) The right have adopted this as a 'left = bad' narrative, and 2) The dynamics of the art that has a significant impact on the main character does not fit Brecht's methodology. There are also questions of accuracy based around the lack of historical precedents for a character who embodies the dual aspects of the Sieland character and the continued success of Dreyman following his 'move' to the West. To a greater or lesser extent, all of these are fair comments. Remind me to make sure Ring does not write my eulogy!