Hi Friends.. been away from iland for a while.. too busy....This post was done a month back, almost. Looking forward to be a regular now onwards! Thanks, and nice of  you who noticed my absence:-)

Life is all about taking sides. You  have to be  on either of  the sides.  It  is totally dangerous  to be in between –you get hurt one day or other for being there. And do what you feel right, even if  it is against the side which you are in – in the long run, it pays back.

May be the  Movie ‘Life of Others’ is trying to stress the above truth.

It was just by coincidence I put my hands on this film – ‘Life of Others’ It is  a Dutch film referring o the pre/post Berlin wall era. Berlin wall was demolished in 1989, bringing West and East Germany physically together. Just ‘Physically’, as even after joining both provinces by bringing down the wall,  the life was different in both sides.

I think this is one of the best films I have ever seen, so I couldn’t help but writing about this!

This film is about  the insecurity and lack of freedom faced by the writers of that era. They were not allowed to write or publish what they feel. They could  not speak what they wanted to say.  Freedom of ex-pression was of no priority at all. Government wired houses of the writers, playwrights, artists……….. And once they were caught, they ‘vanished’ …they ceased to exist. The number of ‘suicides’ were very high during that time.

The film has  three or four main characters. A writer, his wife(or fiancée?), two police officers & a minister. The Senior officer  entrust   an Second officer H.G.Wiesler (code name HGW) to wire the house of famous playwright G.Dreyman, and report minute by minute activities. One day when Dreyman gone out, the team of HGW goes to the apartment (looks like old Russian house) and wire all the nooks and corners of the house, and place  a camera (old 1980s technology). And in the hiding room somewhere near office, HGW sits with a headphone on head and small typewriter infront. Each and every conversation he had to type. After his shift, his assistant comes and take over.

In Dreyman’s house, meanwhile three friends meet together and on the façade of  a stage play preparation for National Day, they write features to be published in west Germany magazines. The type writer for this was smuggled to East Germany from West Germany. It is a small typewriter, may be as big as a dictionary. After typing, the machine and the papers are hidden below the door-sill on the floor between drawing room and living room. Dreyman’s wife didn’t want to get involved in this, but one day unexpectedly she happen to see this hiding place (later, she curses herself for knowing that).

Day by day, after hearing the conversations, HGW understand what ‘other side’ thinks.  And without knowing, he changes side from Police to  Rebels (not physically though). He didn’t want to harm Dreyman, hence he types on many days ‘Nothing unusual happened’ in the reports about Dreyman.

The minister had an eye for Dreyman’s wife – And she gives up to him as she wanted to continue on stage as actress (fear of Authority). This continues till Dreyman come to know about this and make her change her mind (of course, HGW had a hand in this). 

About unusual suicides in East Germany, and  reasons for this, Dreyman prepares feature, and this been smuggled by his friend over to West Germany to publish there. This makes a furore, and minister was unhappy. The Senior police officer questions HGW whether there was any chance  Dreyman would have written that. But they concluded that the type-face which Dreyman usually uses does not match with this new one, hence he got out of doubt – sort of.

The senior officer had doubts on HGW and indirectly warns him. Mrs Dreyman was caught on pretext of using drug, and she was brought for interrogation.  HGW was specifically selected to question her. He questions, and she reveals it was written by Dreyman, and the typewriter was hidden in that place (earlier there is one incident where police officers searches Dreyman’s  home and came out empty handed). HGW leaves the room fast. The senior officer and team come for search. That time Mrs Dreyman too reaches there. They search all the places, and the senior officer just mention that the door sill seems to be loose. And kneels down  to open it. This time all hearts stop; Dreyman looks at his wife as if  ‘oh, why you did this’.

But when the wooden plank was removed, nothing was there! -as HGW had come there just after interrogation and removed those evidences. Without knowing this, Mrs Dreyman runs outside the home, and suicides jumping infront of a lorry – HGW reaches there first, and he says there was no reason to do this, as he had removed them – but too late, and she dies.

HGW was demoted as ‘no trustworthy job could be entrusted to him’. From the rank of second-in-command, he falls down to the section where all the letters are opened with steam and read the contents, and re-paste to the addressees. During one of the scene, his colleage, who was hearing radio  news shouts with bright face ‘Berlin wall is demolished’.

Post Berlin-wall era. Stage plays galore. But as the earstwhile-minister says, there is no fun for playwrights, as ‘there is nothing to rebel against. Nothing to oppose’.  When Dreyman asks the minister why his house was not wired while all others’ house were tapped; minister reveals that he had wired each corner and they knew what were going on.

Dreyman goes to the Police library, and request for the diary/log of tracking his home (As the wall had fallen, all the records were accessible by public). He goes thru all the files chronologically – may be 15 to 20 of them – and realizes what actually happened. Narually he requested to know the identiy behind HGW ..

..and he get to see the identity card with photo with name ‘H.G.Wiesler’.

He would go and search for him. And see him working as post man who delivers letters door to door. For some reasons, he decides not to approach to him. And returns.

Then one day When HG Wiesler passing over a shop, through the glass window he sees a book written by Dreyman, ‘ode to a good man’ (I think this is the name of the book). Wiesler goes into the shop  and gets the book. When he opens, he realizes that it is for the good man ‘HGW’. He buys it, and when shopkeeper asks whether it is to be gift-wrapped, Wiesler replies:

‘ No, it is for ME’!

Thus the story ends.

Actor Ulrich Hue acted in the role of HGW.  Performance par excellence. Sebastian Koch

in the role of G. Dreyman. Smart acting. We will be engrossed in the power of  acting of  Ulrich Hue. Really living the role. The conversations are in Dutch language. Though I switched to English translation, immediately gone back to the original Dutch version so as not to lose the feel & modulation of the voice – and subtitles helps us to understand the movie.

There are many outstanding scenes in this film, which you should see.

A must-see film.