The Lives of Others.  Written and directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmark. (2006) Starring: Sbastian Koch; Ulrich Muhe; Martina Gedeck.                                                                                                                                                               Daily Life in a Police State This film takes us back to 1984 in East Berlin in the GDR, where the lives of ordinary people are overseen by the state police, the Stasi.  A virtual Orwellian state exists to watch over the people to insure that no one deviates from the party line, and that no one escapes to the west. One of the bureaucrats in the Stasi, Captain Wiesler, is assigned to eavesdrop on the lives of a playwright, Georg Dreyman and his girlfriend, Christa Maria, a well-known actress.  This couple are successful in the artistic world of the GDR but constrained in what they can write. The actress, unbeknown-st to her lover, is being sexually abused and blackmailed by a high government official.

keep reading...