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The Lives of Others – nf – When this movie was first showing in local theaters we both recall thinking that despite good reviews , it was probably going to be a very dreary film about listening in to people’s conversations, so we skipped it. We now see how wrong we were, as we were very riveted to this sensitive historical drama set in East Germany during the mid 1980s. It is the story of the surveillance by the secret police of a successful playwright and his actress girlfriend. There is an opportunity to see conflict, change and growth in the main characters, particularly in that of the most committed officer who is secretly spying on this couple for the government and comes to understand them. The movie reflects the oppression that so many people endured during this time, as well as exposing some of the hypocritical motives of the people who persecuted them. It is suspenseful yet evokes emotion and has a subtle and near perfect ending. The actors are excellent veteran German actors and the playwright and Director is East German Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck who made his debut feature film with this movie which won a well-deserved Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. The Netflix DVD has a not to be missed interview with this relatively young director which highlights the research and great thoughtfulness which went into the script, casting, music and production of this outstanding, authentic movie. The movie is in German with subtitles. (2007)