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The Lives of Others (2007)
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All reviews for The Lives of Others
The Lives of Others
by
atacta
in
atacta Blog
loved it.
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"A companion piece to Black Book only for the significant contribution of Sebastian Koch as Georg Dreyman. But Ulrich Mühe takes the film and its heart. In a way Hauptmann Gerd Wiesler is a poor man's Oskar Schindler but in this case - he is a champion of the arts first. The production values on the film are first rate (filmed in David Fincher greens ala Zodiac) and the palpable fear of 1980s East Germany is brilliantly portrayed. Back to Black Book. The story concerns the totalitarian state in its last phase just as in Black Book's Nazi Holland.The story of Surveillance harkens back to The Conversation in the way it affects the lives of those on both sides of the table. Earlier this week 'name the plot game' had this as the answer but could have very well been The Conversation.The only weakness in the film is the pat way Wiesler is dismissed at the end.Really enjoyed this film and Ulrich Mühe's performance is fantastic.
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Summer Castle.
by
Smooth_J
in
Smooth_J Blog
loved it.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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""Sex and politics are on full boil!" NY Times "Its sex scenes are mini revolutions!" Guardian "I got a boner--from all the sex!" TVs Fred Savage, DGA nominee That is the first impression that the viewer of Summer Palace is supposed to receive. A hot-seat, glorified porno, and that's mostly what the film is. However, it's a bit more high-class than that: Lou Ye has a better eye for photography than your average porno auteur, and he manages to meld the debauchery with political events, whether or not his characters (that happen to be having sex at the time) know what the hell is going on. I actually liked the film. While the running time was a bit on the long-side, and certain scenes were way too brooding and self-important, there were frequent shines of brilliance in Lou Ye's direction. The story involves a girl named Yu Hong from a small Chinese town, who is introduced as being strange and strong-willed and in a passionate romance with her boyfriend. Just as soon as she sleeps ... "
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my 2007 movie lists
by
wonga
in
wonga's filmblog
loved it.
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"i have a wonderful picture of all my movie ticket stubs from this year in a pile but i can’t get it transferred to my filmblog (yes, i save my ticket stubs and scrapbook them at the end of the year…i know, it’s sad really)! armed with discount movie coupons, i saw 118 movies this year at the theater and, as usual, it was really hard to narrow them down but here’s my list, for what it’s worth. some are from 2006 that i didn’t see until later. my 15 favorite movies at the theater in 2007the assassination of jesse james by the coward robert fordthe diving bell and the butterflythe lives of othersjunothe painted veilonceno country for old men< "
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Cruelty and the Futility of Tor ...
by
PaL
in
PaL Blog
hasn't rated it.
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""The Lives of Others" is a great film, and an uncomfortably timely reminder of the cruelty and the futility of torture in a week when the Burma junta of generals again comes to world attention with their human rights abuses; and on a day (yesterday) when the New York Times headlined the shameful story of Bush's continuing, secret authorization of techniques "to barrage terror suspects with a combination of painful physical and psychological tactics" in the course of interrogation. "The Lives of Others" is the story of a state-sponsored eavesdropper and torturer--not the kind who pulls out toenails and applies electrical shocks to the genitals, but one who gets results by sleep and sustenance deprivation and prolonged, relentless and implacable questioning followed up by threats to the subject's loved ones. The first scene shows that he's very good at what he does. He's on his way up in the Stasi (the former East German secret pol ... "
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Precise, Complex, Beautiful
by
Rick
in
Rick's filmBlog
loved it.
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"Absolutely loved this film. What could have been a techno-thriller morality tale is instead an intensely human and complex story. Can't recommend it enough. "
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The Lives of Others
by
JimBell
in
JimBell Blog
hasn't rated it.
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"I appreciated The Lives of Others (2006) above all for being an intelligent, adult film for intelligent adults. While you might expect a story about the East German secret police spying on freedom-loving artists to be black and white, every character is complex and most of the issues complicated. Take for example the couple being spied on. He is East Germany’s foremost social realist playwright, except that he doesn’t really believe what he writes. He is cautious, a realist, holding his breath so to speak until something somehow changes for the better, maybe. Some of his more artistic and radical friends accuse him of being gutless, a sell-out. Both descriptions are true. Above all, he just wants to be in love with his woman, one of the foremost actresses in the country. She returns his love and stars in his plays, but she is also somewhat of a calculating climber who relies on black-market pills and tells her husband not to trust her with secrets. We care about this co ... "
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The Lives of Others
by
matkowsky
in
matkowsky Blog
hasn't rated it.
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"We saw The Lives of Others, recommended to us by Shnayur. Great film. The beginning was a bit slow, but well worth it. One of the best films I've seen in a long time. "
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The Lives of Others
by
klenz
in
klenz Blog
hasn't rated it.
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"I went into this movie knowing that it had gotten rave reviews but not knowing anything about the story. From "
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apfradella The Lives Of Others ...
by
apfradella
in
apfradella Blog
loved it.
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"Saw this movie with my wife at our local art cinema. WE LOVED IT. this was such a well constructed piece, an interesting story with multi-character development and mood and suspense. The acting was so excellent. i understand it pretty much swept up the German version of our Oscars. It is a film i will talk about for many years and put on my list of foreign favorites along with Das Boot, Cries and Whispers, La Strada and Life Is Beautiful. "
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Best film at Telluride
by
Jillyb3
in
Jillyb3 Blog
loved it.
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"Well, the best that I saw anyway, The Last King of Scotland got a lot of buzz but I didn't see that one. This film was not only the best one at the festival but one of the better that they've had there in a few years. i don't know who wrote the description in the schedule, but they didn't do it justice. The film starts out showing the tough stassi officer interrogating a prisoner and then teaching a class on how to do just that. He's suspicious of everyone, probably the reason he is so good at his job, and is soon watching "the most loyal writer" in East Germany. He is drawn into the life that this writer and his girlfriend have together and soon finds himself questioning his own life. The director introduced the film and said that he didn't think it would play to a US audience but I think the general story works for anyone. Its a wonderful film and story, and the crowd at the theater was very engrossed and in tears by the end of the film. One could pick at the story a bit (like ... "
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