The Lives of Others: Living Under East Germany’s “Big Brother” or the Quest for Good Men (Das Leben der Anderen) (review)

The Lives of Others is a historical fiction movie that depicts reality, almost more eerily than a documentary could—as it draws us closer to the characters portrayed. I was left with an uneasy feeling—or a deep sadness—at what humans and humanity under totalitarian regimes can become. Set in East Germany about four years prior to the collapse of the Communist regime, it tells the story of a dedicated Stasi (secret police) officer (Wiesler) who, as the movie develops, begins to question how the political system he so very much believes in is (mis)used by those in power.

The movie struck a chilling cord within me—perhaps because I grew up on the “other” side of the wall in West Germany, very much aware of the privilege of enjoying freedom of speech, while across the border anybody even suspected of having different opinions than the “party line” was persecuted. Further, because not so long ago, in all of Germany, the Nazi party did far worse—leading to my being raised with the “never again” mentality. I am always struck by totalitarian regimes, where civil disobedience is dangerous, and thus rare, where credit is due to those who do show civil courage, and bear the costs of torture and death for doing so. Thus, for me, this movie stands as an important reminder of what happens in totalitarian regimes, and more specifically, that some totalitarian regimes allow very much for personal cruelty to come to the fore.

East Germany was a dangerous place. In this regime, anything remotely seen as a critique or non-conformity could prove dangerous, as is depicted and illustrated by The Lives of Others in several instances:

• • The legitimate questions of a student during a lecture on interrogation techniques of why a humanitarian regime such as the German Democratic Republic was using inhuman methods of depriving suspects of sleep until they confessed (clearly a form of torture) earns him a mark next to his name from the Stasi Officer Wiesler, possibly the start of a future record.

• • An innocent joke about political leaders by a minor Stasi officer overheard by Wiesler and his ambitious boss in a chance cafeteria encounter is treated as regime critique leading to instant demotion. A taste for sadism is shown by Wiesler’s boss when he initially lets the man believe that telling jokes is OK, even telling one himself, yet the outcome as we learn later is nevertheless demotion. Let alone, the fear in the face of the young man when he finds out he has been overheard shows that people living in such a regime know very well the costs of even the smallest criticism, one as innocent as a small joke.

• • In another chance encounter, Wiesler is innocently asked by a boy in the elevator of his apartment block, “Are you really with the Stasi?” To which he replies, “Do you know what the Stasi is?” And the boy says, “Bad men locking up people, that’s at least what my dad says.” Wiesler immediately starts to ask “what is the name of your. . . .” but decides not to go on (as he has at this point begun to question the system)—yet under normal circumstance, he would have asked the boy about the name of his father and the father likely would have gone into interrogation for critiquing the regime. This also shows that many totalitarian regimes do not shy away from using children to spy on their parents.

• • A system where artists felt they could...