The Lives of Others (2006)

Jerska: I can't understand this country anymore. There are no human rights, no freedom of speech. This whole system drives me mad. But on the other hand, it's the same system that inspires us to write, to write about how people live in this country, real lives. And that's real masterpiece coming from our conscience.
........
Dreyman: Albert, I think I'm in trouble. It's the minister in charge of the arts, Minister Hempf. He threatened to ban my plays. Would it be terrible? I don't know what a ban is like.
Jerska (smiling) : Really? It's great.

The movie is set in the 1980s when the Stasi is in full power in East Germany. Georg Dreyman (Sebastian Koch) is a poet-playwright who's about to become Minister Hempf's new victim. Captain Wiesler (Ulrich Muhe) is appointed to spy on his activities and political affiliations and report anything that he finds suspicious. Wiesler would come across as your typical by-the-rule-book, obedient officer who'd quietly take orders and has nothing of a rebel in him.

Dreyman lives with his actress girlfriend, Christa Maria (Martina Gedeck), who is Minister Hempf's object of desire. She is blackmailed into visiting him every Thursday to stay out of trouble in her acting career and also in exchange for Dreyman's freedom. Specially after Jerska (Volkmar Kleinert) kills himself, she believes it's a small sacrifice she has to make for their freedom.

Dreyman, although initially has been more of a model citizen compared to other artists, slowly changes his views after knowing the kind of leaders his country has. He writes an anonymous article in a major newspaper, Der Spiegel, which enrages a few important government officials. One of them is convinced it's written by Dreyman because of the article's "poetic nature". However, Captain Wiesler seems to have reported nothing suspicious against Dreyman even though he sits in  a cabin listening to all his conversations. We are never really told why exactly an officer like Wiesler seems to cover up for Dreyman. Is it that he starts believing in Dreyman's beliefs after reading a collection of his poems? Is it that he questions the unethical nature of his work on spying on a man who poses no real threat? Or is it that he has secretly fallen for his beautiful girlfriend and wishes them well?

We'll never find that out as he goes on about his job while leaving out details that'd help in implicating Dreyman. Even as his promotion is suspended and he finds himself out of favors with his superiors, he finds his happiness in the collection that Dreyman dedicates to him. Yes, good men do exist.

The detailed way in which writer-director, Florian Donnersmarck lays out the plot, makes it difficult to believe it's his first feature film. Ulrich Muhe delivers a brilliant performance as Captain Wiesler. Even though he doesn't speak much in the movie, you'll find yourself rooting for his character. And to top everything, the last musical score in the movie is amazing.

Rating - 8.5/10