The Lives Of Others Analysis

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1984, East Berlin. 100,000 East German Secret Police. 200,000 informers.

In a society where more than one-third of the population is victimized by surveillance, people are forced to choose: to betray or to silence. A secret police Gerd Wiesler (Ulrich Mühe) and a successful playwright Georg Dreyman (Sebastian Koch) in The Lives of Others are no exception. At first, they appear to be securing a firm stand. Upon Jerska (Volkmar Kleinert)’s death, however, they start questioning their stances. The movie unfolds as the two main characters become alike. Hneckel von Donnersmarck’s use of outstanding mise-en-scene and sound—especially the musical leitmotifs—powerfully persuades the viewers that the pursuit of goodness alone can bind two seemingly …show more content…

The viewers rarely see anyone’s point-of-view shots since Donnersmarck wants us to perceive each moment as it is, without any distortion. Even when Wiesler imagines the couple’s reunion as he reads the report, the scene itself unfolds in objective depth, de-emphasizing its subjective value. Moreover, we easily notice the dissimilarity between Wiesler and Dreyman through the camera that thoroughly observes their lives. The audience knows how Wiesler gradually starts to sympathize with Dreyman, who is completely unaware of his informant until the very end. We see the most, thereby recognizing how the two separate lives begin to …show more content…

Wiesler is often associated with “The Invisible Front” motif, largely characterized by its driving bass ostinato and creeping string chords. It is ominous and rigid, representing his unwelcome presence. Contrastingly, full emotional strings define Dreyman’s motif. His motif develops into a love theme that plays when Christa-Maria decides not to meet minister and comes back to him. While mise-en-scene and music suggests nothing in common between Wiesler and Dreyman, they seem to share one thing: a typewriter. However, the content cannot be more different: Weisler coldly writes an official wiretap report while Dreyman passionately works on his next

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