The Lives of Others, 2006
I watched
The Lives of Others a little while ago and enjoyed it quite a bit too. What a great screenplay it had and very meticulous as well. I really dug how realistic it was, especially on the technical levels. The color palette of the film also aided at that. Loved the characters and their struggles, Christa in particular who's a very flawed person whose inner turmoil came with a lot of interesting themes that I rarely see put on screen. To me, the more flawed a character is, the more realistic and interesting they become, which is why she was my absolute favorite in the movie.
I didn't really have any specific complaints about this one. Initially I had a mixed response to the final 10 or so minutes, which serve as an epilogue to the rest of the film and involve some jumps in time. At first I found myself grumbling that I wished they ended the film in the "present" of the film. But as I've thought about it, I do think that the last 10 minutes provide closure and completeness to some of the major themes of the film and the character arcs.
I think that there was a very predictable way that this film could have gone, which would be the spy falling in love with the person they were watching. I do think that Wiesler develops a platonic love or affection for Dreyman, and by removing any overt notions of romance or lust, it becomes clear that what Wiesler is responding to in Dreyman is his ideals and his bravery.
I personally didn't enjoy the epilogues and still don't. They're probably my biggest gripe with the film. I found them to be too explanatory, and they also were kind of ruining some aspects that I would've loved had they've been kept untouched. Even though there are some great scenes that we got out of Dreyman figuring it all out, such as the part where he finds Wiesler but chooses to keep his distance and watch him from afar which was definitely a nice role reversal, there's also the last scene of the film. But, I still don't think that nearly justifies such a development.
First of all, I need to explain the way I interpreted Wiesler's character and his actions. I personally don't necessarily buy into him becoming infatuated with Dreyman as much as I think he's fallen in love with the love between Drey and Christa. He has never seen a love with such force, purity, and intensity before. It's something he's never had, and probably never will. He's jealous of it of course, but at the same time he wants to preserve and protect it by all means necessary. I find that way more compelling than just him becoming in love with the writer because of his ideals, personality, and art. I still find the latter to be very true, but there's also his love for Christa and her nature, as well as a love for their relationship, and we see that on numerous occasions like in his conversation with Christa in the café, or even his last words to her before her death assuring her that Drey doesn't know about the truth, protecting her, protecting him, and more importantly protecting their magical sacred love. And that is why I don't like where the story headed in those last 15 minutes. I would've much rathered Wiesler's efforts not be in vain, and have the irony of it all only be known to the audience.
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"A film has to be a dialogue, not a monologue — a dialogue to provoke in the viewer his own thoughts, his own feelings. And if a film is a dialogue, then it’s a good film; if it’s not a dialogue, it’s a bad film."
- Michael "Gloomy Old Fart" Haneke