It beat Pan's Labyrinth to the foreign film oscar, and as I haven't seen that yet I can't say whether that was the right decision, but The Lives of Others was very worthy of the oscar. Put simply it is terrific.

Great script, great performances, direction was pitch perfect (nothing too flashy). Thoroughly enjoyed this film.

Appears the US already had a limited release in February so you will probably have to wait until the DVD. Add it to your Netflix queue.

Dave

PS apologies if someone mentioned the film already, nothing showed up on a search of the forum.

Pan's Labyrinth was probably my favorite movie that I saw last year, so I highly recommend that.

I may have to check this one out. The plot summary on IMDb sounds somewhat derivative of 1984. yes/no?

SPOILERS AHOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
















After PL lost the Oscar to TLOO, I had to see the latter flick. As much as I enjoyed it, I was very disappointed at how easily the "eavesdropper" shifted from hard-ass colonel to romantic idealist. But did love the ending. Brought a tear to my eye.

AC

Pan's Labyrinth was probably my favorite movie that I saw last year, so I highly recommend that.

I want to see "Pan's Labyrinth", but we have to wait for it until this fall.

Can someone write a spoiler free plot synopsis for me about The Lives Of Others?

We saw Pan;s Labyrinth and loved it. Would really like to see the film that beat it to the Oscar.

SPOILERS AHOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
















After PL lost the Oscar to TLOO, I had to see the latter flick. As much as I enjoyed it, I was very disappointed at how easily the "eavesdropper" shifted from hard-ass colonel to romantic idealist. But did love the ending. Brought a tear to my eye.

AC

More Spoilers!!!!














I thought it played out really well. When the reason for surveillance became apparent that is when he started to question everything. But I agree, the ending started to feel a little long and then that last scene just made it perfect.

Dave

Can someone write a spoiler free plot synopsis for me about The Lives Of Others?

We saw Pan;s Labyrinth and loved it. Would really like to see the film that beat it to the Oscar.

I'd say you're better off going to see it without any preconception, however spoiler free plot below.




Set in East Germany in the mid-eighties a member of the Stazi is asked to surveil (sp?) a writer whose morals and writings seem almost too good to be true.

What he sees makes him question the reason why and with the best intentions he sets in motion a series of events that change everything.

That's about as simple I can make it without any spoilers. Great character drama.

Dave

I may have to check this one out. The plot summary on IMDb sounds somewhat derivative of 1984. yes/no?

No.

Yes, it does have Big Brother overtones, but I didn't once think it derived from 1984 (and if it did, it's better than any film version I've seen).

Dave