Oscar-winning Film From Germany Is a Cautionary Tale For US
Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others) is an outstanding film in its own right. Every film buff (i.e., all of us who don’t mind reading sub-titles) might see it on its artistic merits alone. The writing is top notch, tight, and extremely economical. The photography is as stark as the landscape – East Berlin before the wall came down. And the acting is superb. The plot on one level is a straightforward story of betrayal and redemption. On a deeper level, however, the story delves into the fierce interplay between the personal and the political in a state that “wants to know everything”.
The East German government was built on a tyranny of secrecy. It became impossible to know who to trust, and who was listening in. Even the secrets were secret. The film did a masterful job portraying the cost – emotional, physical, and spiritual – of living in and sustaining such a society. And ultimately it showed just how unsustainable this world of secrets within secrets really is.
The film also is important for Americans to see and discuss. The abuses of the Patriot ACT recently disclosed by the Justice Department has an eerie STASI feel to it. In fact it can happen here. The question now is whether or not it is already happening here, whether or not there are thousands of agents listening in, not on the lives of others, but in on our lives.
The film suggests that we have met the others, and they are us.
Check the trailer out here.