The Lives of Others - 9.0

The Lives of Others is a German film about the Stasi spying program in East Germany before the wall fell. It does an outstanding job of painting the big picture of the overall culture of fear and injustice that was brought on by the Stasi program through the telling of a smallish but heartbreaking story about a Stasi interrogator who is assigned to spy on a possibly subversive playwright and his actress girlfriend. Using a story with well-developed, dynamic, morally ambiguous, and above all realistic characters makes this film that much more accessible. It is riveting literally from the opening scene to the final credits. It should also be commended for its subtlety and nuance which helped this film avoid the common pitfall of other 'message' movies of inciting resentment by banging said message over the viewer's head. Very highly recommended - I was disappointed when Pan's Labryinth didn't win the Best Foreign Film oscar but now I can see why. Along with Pan's Labryinth, The Lives of Others is easily one of the 5 best movies I've seen from 2006 and it could be argued they are the top two.