The Lives of Others (German: Das Leben der Anderen) is a 2006 German drama film, marking the feature film debut of filmmaker Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck. The plot is about the monitoring of East Berlin residents by agents of the Stasi, the GDR's secret police.

The Lives of Others won the 2006 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. The film had earlier won seven Deutscher Filmpreis awards—including those for best film, best director, best screenplay, best actor, and best supporting actor—after setting a new record with 11 nominations. It was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 64th Golden Globe Awards.

Released 17 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, marking the end of the East German socialist state, it was the first notable drama film about the subject after a series of comedies such as Good Bye, Lenin! and Sonnenallee. This approach was widely applauded in Germany even as some criticized the humanization of Wiesler's character. Many former East Germans were stunned by the factual accuracy of the film's set and atmosphere, accurately portraying a state which merged with West Germany and ceased to exist 16 years prior to the release. The film's authenticity was considered notable, given that the director grew up outside of East Germany and was only 16 when the Berlin Wall fell.

In 1984 East Germany, Stasi Hauptmann Gerd Wiesler (Ulrich Mühe), code name HGW XX/7, is ordered to spy on the playwright Georg Dreyman (Sebastian Koch), who has escaped state scrutiny due to his pro-Communist views and international recognition. Wiesler and his team bug the apartment, set up surveillance equipment in an attic, and begin reporting Dreyman's activities. Wiesler learns that Dreyman has been put under surveillance at the request of Minister of Culture, Bruno Hempf (Thomas Thieme), who covets Dreyman's girlfriend, actress Christa-Maria Sieland (Martina Gedeck). After an intervention by Wiesler leads to Dreyman's discovering Sieland's relationship with Hempf, he implores her not to meet him again. Sieland flees to a nearby bar where Wiesler, posing as a fan, urges her to be true to herself. She returns home and reconciles with Dreyman.

At Dreyman's birthday party, his friend Albert Jerska (a blacklisted theatrical director) gives him sheet music for Sonate vom Guten Menschen (Sonata for a Good Man). Shortly afterwards, Jerska hangs himself. Dreyman decides to publish an anonymous article in Der Spiegel, a prominent West German newsweekly. Dreyman's article accuses the state of concealing the country's elevated suicide rates. Since all East German typewriters are registered and identifiable, an editor of Der Spiegel smuggles Dreyman a miniature typewriter with a red ribbon. Dreyman hides the typewriter under a floorboard of his apartment but is seen by Sieland. When Dreyman and his friends feign a defection attempt to determine whether or not his flat is bugged, Wiesler does not alert the border guards or his superior Lt. Col. Anton Grubitz (Ulrich Tukur) and the conspirators believe they are safe.

Dreyman's article is published, angering the East German authorities. The Stasi obtains a copy, but are unable to link it to any registered typewriter. Livid at being rejected by Sieland, Hempf orders Grubitz to arrest her. She is blackmailed into revealing Dreyman's authorship of the article, although when the Stasi search his apartment, they cannot find the typewriter. Grubitz, suspicious that Wiesler has mentioned nothing unusual in his daily reports of the monitoring, orders him to do the follow-up interrogation of Sieland. Wiesler forces Sieland to tell him where the typewriter is hidden.

Grubitz and the Stasi return to Dreyman's apartment. Sieland realizes that Dreyman will know she betrayed him and flees the apartment. When Grubitz removes the floor, the typewriter is gone—Wiesler having removed it before the search team arrived. Unaware of this, Sieland runs to the street and commits suicide by stepping into the path of a truck. Grubitz informs Wiesler that the investigation is over and so is Wiesler's career: His remaining 20 years with the agency will be in Department M, a dead-end position for disgraced agents.

On November 9, 1989, Wiesler is steam-opening letters when a co-worker tells him about the fall of the Berlin Wall. Wiesler silently gets up and leaves the office, inspiring his co-workers to do the same. Two years later, Hempf and Dreyman meet while attending a performance of Dreyman's play. Dreyman asks the former minister why he had never been monitored. Hempf tells him that he had been under full surveillance in 1984. Dreyman searches his apartment and finds the listening devices.

At the Stasi Records Agency, Dreyman reviews the files kept while he was under surveillance. He reads that Sieland was released just before the second search and could not have removed the typewriter. He is at first confused by the false and contradictory information regarding his activities, but when he reaches the final report, he sees a fingerprint in red ink. Dreyman finally realizes that the officer in charge of his surveillance – Stasi officer HGW XX/7 – had concealed his illegal activities, including his authorship of the suicide article, and that he had removed the typewriter from his apartment. Dreyman tracks down Wiesler, who now works as a postman, but decides not to approach him.

Two years later, Wiesler passes a bookstore window display promoting Dreyman's new novel, Sonate vom Guten Menschen. He goes inside and opens a copy of the book, discovering it is dedicated "To HGW XX/7, in gratitude". Deeply moved, Wiesler buys the book. When the sales clerk asks if he wants it gift-wrapped, he responds, "No. This is for me." 1

References