Das Leben
der Anderen aka The Lives of Others by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck – one
of the Top Rated Movies, placed at 58, winner of the Academy Award for Best
Foreign Language, BAFTA, Cesar, a total of eighty awards
10 out of
10
This is
such a magnificent, monumental motion picture that even if the subject is
avoided by this cinephile, it is still an exalting, exuberant experience to watch
it the second time…since I have lived on the wrong side of the Iron Curtain,
art dedicated to communism does not appeal, on the contrary, I skip the oeuvres
that center on it, DDR was paradise, when compared with the Ceausescu regime,
or at least it was thought so.
Let me brag
upfront and give you this link http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html which has the copy of a page from
Newsweek, written by their correspondent, who came to Bucharest to cover the
fall of the Ceausescu regime, a collapse to which I have brought my own, small
contribution, tiny perhaps, but probably the most important act of my life, if
we place it in perspective.
It has not
transformed my own existence – there is pride connected with the presence among
the protesters that faced the retaliation of the repressive regime, on December
21, in the Roman Square, where Andrei Finti was our leader (a hero that has no
statue, though he deserved eternal, massive gratitude) but I must confess that
I have also had regrets connected with the aftermath, and the lack of ‘compensation’
There have
been many fraudsters, hooligans, crooks, scoundrels, fools that have claimed
and received the ‘revolutionary certificate’, and with that a series of
financial and other privileges and benefits, and though I can understand that
it looked so embarrassing, shameful to join this cohort of fakes, and benefit
from a heroic act, still, I would have been one of the very few that deserved
some recognition.
I had not
watched the events unfold on the television screen, as most of the
beneficiaries of the revolution (who had special tax [I think it was no tax in
fact] status, received property, the right to take over commercial space and so
on, reached the heights of economic, social, political life) had done, on the
contrary, I had taken to the streets and faced ‘the music’, potential
catastrophic consequences, and I have nothing material to show for that, except
for that article, and the memories I have of the brave stand
This later
aspect could be the most important, and I should be aware that even with much
more money, there is the Hedonic Adaptation phenomenon, the lottery winners experiment
http://realini.blogspot.com/2016/08/a-guide-to-good-life-by-william-irvine.html and it is not cash that makes us so
much happier.
The story
line of The Lives of Others is too familiar, and that was one reason I have
mentioned that I stay away from the communist subject – indeed, there is more
than an adversity for the left wing humans, seeing that we have had the
‘chance’ to live under the left (extreme, but still left) and could see what
atrocities it can cause – with one of the nomenclature falling for a woman he
likes and trying to have her.
A minister
wants the STASI to find dirt on Georg Dreyman (the actor in the role is
wondrous Sebastian Koch) a famous writer, who is intimate with the actress
Christa –Maria Sieland – the actress is the fabulous Martina Gedeck, admired in
another one of the best films in decades http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/06/one-of-best-films-of-past-decades.html The Baader Meinhof Complex - Christa Maria is the ‘trophy’ that the
apparatchik wants to get in his paws, and for that he is willing to use all his
power, abusing and if need be taking the STASI into the home of the author, to
get the proves of illegal activity
Hauptmann
Gerd Wiesler – portrayed by excellent Ulrich Muhe - is placed in charge of the
spying operation, with microphones placed around the home, agents listening in
and making reports on the sexual acts, conversations, with the goal of finding
the proof of ‘activities against the state’, but without success for quite some
time, for people were aware of the continuous spying, the huge network of collaborators…
Albert
Jerska, a friend of Georg Dreyman, had been blacklisted and since that meant
the end of his productive life, losing the sense of meaning, the artist
committed suicide, DDR being one of the countries with the highest rate – was
it second only to Hungary – and the regime had decided to stop publishing the
numbers…Dreyman and his friends decide to send a letter to Der Spiegel, in the
West, taking huge risks.
This was a
very dangerous stand, it would be the equivalent of treason, and the punishment
would be decades in prison, maybe life, and when they prepare the ground, they
try to test and see if the STASI listens in what happens in the home of the
writer, pretending they plan an escape with the car, at a specific border point
– with the agents spying, they were sure that the car would be stopped, only it
is not.
It is
because Gerd Wiesler is becoming a ‘turncoat’, he moves to the right side, and
instead of reporting to his loathsome superiors, he fabricates reports that
have no mention of the dissidents and their plans (spoiler alert) with the
result that the article that is attacking the policies of the communist state
is smuggled and published, with the secret police trying to find another weak
spot, using the drug addiction of the actress against her
There are
also a couple of jokes, we had versions of those in the countries of the
Eastern Block, with the leader of the local commies talking to…the sun – with
Honecher, the sun salutes, until the end of the day, when he says kiss my ass,
I am in the West now, while our local version had Ceausescu saluted by what he
thought is the sun, playing to his vanity and accepted because of his immense
stupidity, until he gets the answer from the ‘sun’: good day comrade Ceausescu,
my name is Manu, lieutenant Sun has been replaced…
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