View source for The Lives of Others

{{Short description|2006 German film by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = The Lives of Others
| image          = Leben der anderen.jpg
| alt            = 
| caption        = Original German-language poster
| director       = [[Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck]]
| producer       = {{plainlist|
*Max Wiedemann
*Quirin Berg}}
| writer         = Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
| starring       = {{plainlist|
*[[Ulrich Mühe]]
*[[Martina Gedeck]]
*[[Sebastian Koch]]
*[[Ulrich Tukur]]}}
| music          = {{plainlist|
*[[Gabriel Yared]]
*Stéphane Moucha}}
| cinematography = Hagen Bogdanski
| editing        = Patricia Rommel
| studio         = {{plainlist|
*[[Wiedemann & Berg Film Production|Wiedemann & Berg]]
*[[Bayerischer Rundfunk]]
*[[Arte]]
*Creado Film}}
| distributor    = [[Buena Vista International]]
| released       = {{Film date|df=y|2006|03|23}}
| runtime        = 137 minutes<!--Theatrical runtime: 138:02--><ref>{{cite web|title=''DAS LEBEN DER ANDEREN - THE LIVES OF OTHERS''|url=https://bbfc.co.uk/releases/das-leben-der-anderen-lives-others-film |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160811204639/http://www.bbfc.co.uk/releases/das-leben-der-anderen-lives-others-film |url-status=dead |archive-date=11 August 2016 |work=[[British Board of Film Classification]]|date=2006-11-27|access-date=2012-11-24}}</ref>
| country        = Germany
| language       = German
| budget         = $2 million<ref name="BOM"/>
| gross          = $77.3 million<ref name="BOM">{{cite web|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=livesofothers.htm |title=The Lives of Others (2007)|work=[[Box Office Mojo]]|access-date=7 July 2011}}</ref>
}}

'''''The Lives of Others''''' ({{langx|de|link=no|Das Leben der Anderen}}, {{IPA|de|das ˈleːbn deːɐ̯ ˈʔandəʁən|pron|De-Das Leben der Anderen.ogg}}) is a 2006 [[Cinema of Germany|German]] drama film written and directed by [[Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck]] marking his feature film directorial debut. The plot is about the monitoring of [[East Berlin]] residents by agents of the [[Stasi]], [[East Germany]]'s secret police. It stars [[Ulrich Mühe]] as Stasi Captain Gerd Wiesler, [[Ulrich Tukur]] as his superior Anton Grubitz, [[Sebastian Koch]] as the playwright Georg Dreyman, and [[Martina Gedeck]] as Dreyman's lover, a prominent actress named Christa-Maria Sieland.

The film was released by [[Buena Vista International]] in Germany on 23 March 2006. At the same time, the screenplay was published by [[Suhrkamp Verlag]]. ''The Lives of Others'' won the [[Academy Award for Best International Feature Film]]. The film had earlier won seven [[Deutscher Filmpreis]] awards—including those for best film, best director, best screenplay, best actor, and best supporting actor—after setting a new record with 11 nominations. It also won the [[BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language]] and [[European Film Award for Best Film]], while it was nominated for the [[Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film]]. ''The Lives of Others'' cost US$2 million<ref name="arnyt" /> and grossed more than US$77 million worldwide.<ref name="BOM"/>

Released 17 years after the fall of the [[Berlin Wall]], marking the end of the German Democratic Republic, it was the first notable drama film about the subject after a series of comedies such as ''[[Good Bye, Lenin!]]'' and ''[[Sonnenallee]]''. This approach was widely applauded in Germany, and the film was complimented for its accurate tone despite some criticism that Wiesler's character was depicted unrealistically and with undue sympathy. The film's authenticity was considered praiseworthy given that the director grew up outside of East Germany and was 16 when the Berlin Wall fell.<ref name="nybooks">{{cite journal |last=Ash |first=Timothy |author-link=Timothy Garton Ash |date=2007-05-31 |title=The Stasi on Our Minds |url=https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2007/05/31/the-stasi-on-our-minds/ |journal=The New York Review of Books |volume=54 |issue=9 |access-date=2014-11-17 |quote=It was therefore with particular interest that I recently sat down to watch The Lives of Others, this already celebrated film about the Stasi, made by a West German director who was just sixteen when the Berlin Wall came down.}}</ref>

==Plot==
<!-- Per WP:FILMPLOT, plot summaries for feature films should be between 400 to 700 words. -->
In 1984 [[East Germany]] (GDR), [[Stasi]] ''[[Hauptmann]]'' Gerd Wiesler, code name HGW XX/7, is ordered by his friend and superior, Lt. Col. Anton Grubitz, to spy on [[playwright]] Georg Dreyman, whose pro-[[communist]] politics and international recognition have so far kept the state from directly monitoring him. Dreyman's appearance as a model East German mystifies Wiesler; the playwright has no known vices or record of disloyalty or dissent at all. At the request of Minister of Culture Bruno Hempf, Wiesler and his team [[Covert listening device|bug]] Dreyman's apartment, set up surveillance equipment, and report Dreyman's activities. Wiesler is disappointed to discover that Hempf is having Dreyman observed not for suspicions of disloyalty or dissent, but for his own lustful interest in Dreyman's girlfriend, actress Christa-Maria Sieland. After an intervention by Wiesler leads to Dreyman's discovering Hempf's coercive relationship with Sieland, he implores her not to meet Hempf again and to be true to herself. She returns to Dreyman's apartment without seeing Hempf.

Dreyman's friend Albert Jerska, a [[Blacklist (employment)|blacklisted]] [[theatrical director]], gives him [[sheet music]] for ''Sonate vom Guten Menschen'' (''Sonata about Good People''). Shortly afterwards, Jerska hangs himself. Dreyman realises that the GDR has not published its own suicide rates since 1977, and decides to publish an article in Western media. To determine whether or not his flat is bugged, Dreyman and his friends feign a defection attempt. A sympathetic Wiesler does not report it and the conspirators believe they are safe. Since all East German typewriters are registered and identifiable, an editor of prominent West German newsweekly  ''[[Der Spiegel]]'' smuggles Dreyman a [[Groma Büromaschinen]] Kolibri, an ultra-flat [[typewriter]], which he hides under a floorboard. It has only a red ribbon, which stains his fingers.

Dreyman publishes an anonymous article in ''Der Spiegel'' accusing the state of concealing the country's elevated [[suicide]] rates. The article angers the East German authorities but the Stasi cannot link it to a registered typewriter. Rejected by Sieland, Hempf orders Grubitz to arrest her. She is [[blackmailed]] into revealing Dreyman's authorship of the article, although the Stasi do not find the typewriter. Grubitz, suspicious of Wiesler, has him do the follow-up [[interrogation]] of Sieland. Wiesler makes Sieland reveal the typewriter's location.

When the Stasi return to Dreyman's apartment, Sieland realises that Dreyman will know she betrayed him and runs into the street right in front of a passing truck. Dreyman runs after her and Sieland dies in his arms. Grubitz finds nothing beneath the floorboard; he ends the investigation with a perfunctory apology to Dreyman. Grubitz then informs Wiesler that while the investigation is over, so is Wiesler's career; his remaining years with the Stasi will be steam-opening letters for inspection in Department M, a dead-end assignment for disgraced agents. The same day, [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] is elected [[leader of the Soviet Union]].

Two years after the fall of the wall, Hempf and Dreyman meet at a performance of Dreyman's play, each reflecting on life before and after [[German reunification]]. Dreyman asks why he was never monitored by the Stasi, to which Hempf replies that he had been: "We knew everything." Dreyman finds the abandoned listening devices in his apartment and rips them from the walls.

Dreyman reviews his Stasi files at the [[Stasi Records Agency]], reading that Sieland was released just before the second search and could not have removed the typewriter. He is confused by other contradictions until, seeing a red fingerprint in the final report, he realises that the officer in charge of his surveillance{{snd}}Stasi officer HGW&nbsp;XX/7{{snd}}had removed the typewriter from his apartment and concealed his activities, including his authorship of the suicide article. He tracks down Wiesler, who now works as a mailman, but ultimately decides not to approach him.

Two years later, Wiesler passes a bookstore window display promoting Dreyman's new novel, ''Sonate vom Guten Menschen'' ("Sonata about a Good Person"). He opens a copy of the book, discovering that it is dedicated "To HGW XX/7, in gratitude". As he buys a copy, Wiesler is asked if he would like it giftwrapped. He replies: "No, it's for me."

==Cast==
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
* [[Ulrich Mühe]] as Hauptmann Gerd Wiesler
* [[Sebastian Koch]] as Georg Dreyman
* [[Martina Gedeck]] as Christa-Maria Sieland
* [[Ulrich Tukur]] as Oberstleutnant Anton Grubitz
* [[Thomas Thieme]] as Minister Bruno Hempf
* [[Hans-Uwe Bauer]] as Paul Hauser
* [[Volkmar Kleinert]] as Albert Jerska
* [[Matthias Brenner]] as Karl Wallner
* [[Herbert Knaup]] as Gregor Hessenstein, ''[[Der Spiegel]]''-journalist
{{col-2}}
* [[Charly Hübner]] as Udo Leveh, Wiesler's night shift
* [[Bastian Trost]] as Häftling 227, prisoner
* [[Marie Gruber]] as Frau Meineke, neighbour
* {{Interlanguage link|Volker Michalowski|de}} as typewriter expert
* [[Werner Daehn]] as Stasi officer-in-charge at house search
* [[Hinnerk Schönemann]] as Axel Stiegler, joketeller at Stasi
* Gabi Fleming as the prostitute "Ute"
* [[Ludwig Blochberger]] as Benedikt Lehmann, Wiesler's student
{{col-end}}

==Production==
[[Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck]]'s parents were both from East Germany (originally they were from [[former eastern territories of Germany|further east]]; the [[von Donnersmarck]]s belonged to [[Silesia]]n nobility but the region was transferred to Poland from Germany after World War II). He has said that, on visits there as a child before the [[Berlin Wall]] fell, he could sense the fear they had as subjects of the state.<ref>{{cite web | title = Director's Statement | publisher = Sony | url = http://www.sonyclassics.com/thelivesofothers/swf/index.html | access-date = 2007-08-17}}</ref>

He said the idea for the film came to him when he was trying to come up with a scenario for a film class. He was listening to music and recalled [[Maxim Gorky]]'s saying that [[Vladimir Lenin|Lenin]]'s favorite piece of music was [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]]'s ''[[Piano Sonata No. 23 (Beethoven)|Appassionata]]''. Gorky recounted a discussion with Lenin:

{{blockquote|And screwing up his eyes and chuckling, [Lenin] added without mirth:

But I can't listen to music often, it affects my nerves, it makes me want to say sweet nothings and pat the heads of people who, living in a filthy hell, can create such beauty.  But today we mustn't pat anyone on the head or we'll get our hand bitten off; we've got to hit them on the heads, hit them without mercy, though in the ideal we are against doing any violence to people.  Hm-hm—it's a hellishly difficult office!}}

Donnersmarck told a ''New York Times'' reporter: "I suddenly had this image in my mind of a person sitting in a depressing room with earphones on his head and listening in to what he supposes is the enemy of the state and the enemy of his ideas, and what he is really hearing is beautiful music that touches him. I sat down and in a couple of hours had written the [[film treatment|treatment]]."<ref name="arnyt" /> The screenplay was written during an extended visit to his uncle's monastery, [[Heiligenkreuz Abbey]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://stift-heiligenkreuz.org/Oscar-2007.191.0.html |work=Heiligenkreuz |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120213235638/http://stift-heiligenkreuz.org/Oscar-2007.191.0.html |archive-date=13 February 2012 | language=de | title=Ein Oscar "aus" Heiligenkreuz | access-date=2 December 2019 }}</ref>

Although the opening scene is set in [[Berlin-Hohenschönhausen Memorial|Hohenschönhausen prison]] (which is now the site of a memorial dedicated to the victims of Stasi oppression), the film could not be shot there because [[Hubertus Knabe]], the director of the memorial, refused to give Donnersmarck permission. Knabe objected to "making the Stasi man into a hero" and tried to persuade Donnersmarck to change the film. Donnersmarck cited ''[[Schindler's List]]'' as an example of such a plot development being possible. Knabe's answer: "But that is exactly the difference. There was a [[Oskar Schindler|Schindler]]. There was no Wiesler."<ref name="af">{{cite news | last = Fundler | first = Anna | title = Tyranny of Terror |work=The Guardian  | date = 5 May 2007 | url = https://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/may/05/featuresreviews.guardianreview12 | location=London}}</ref>

Donnersmarck teamed up with cinematographer Hagen Bogdanski to bring the story to life. Describing his inspiration for the film's Brechtian grey color palette, cinematographer Bogdanski recalls the streets of East Berlin from the period: "They were very dark. Everything was happening inside, in private".<ref>{{cite web |title=Ways of Seeing: Surveillance, Observation, and the Lives of Others |url=https://fashionxfilm.com/ways-of-seeing-surveillance-observation-and-the-lives-of-others/ |website=Fashion x Film}}</ref>

==Reception==
The film was received with widespread acclaim. Film [[Review aggregator|aggregate]] site [[Rotten Tomatoes]] reports a 92% rating, based on 149 positive reviews out of 163, and an average rating of 8.31/10. The website's critical consensus states: "Unlike more traditional spy films, ''The Lives of Others'' doesn't sacrifice character for cloak and dagger chases, and the performances (notably that by the late Ulrich Muhe) stay with you."<ref>{{Rotten Tomatoes | the_lives_of_others The Lives of Others }}</ref> It also has a score of 89 out of 100 on [[Metacritic]], based on 39 critics.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-lives-of-others|title = The Lives of Others|website = [[Metacritic]]}}</ref>

A review in ''Daily Variety'' by Derek Elley described the film as "a superbly cast drama", which "balances the many dramatic and emotional strands between the players with poise and clarity".<ref>{{cite web | last = Elley | first = Derek | title = The Lives of Others | publisher = Daily Variety | date = 11 June 2006 | url = https://variety.com/2006/film/awards/the-lives-of-others-1200515595/ | access-date = 2007-08-17}}</ref> ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine's [[Richard Corliss]] named the film one of the Top 10 Movies of 2007, ranking it at #2 and praising a "poignant, unsettling thriller".<ref>[[Corliss, Richard]]; "The 10 Best Movies"; ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine; 24 December 2007; Page 40.</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://content.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1686204_1686244_1692010,00.html |last=Corliss |first=Richard |title=The 10 Best Movies |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=9 December 2007 |access-date=7 June 2019 }}</ref>

Film critic [[Roger Ebert]] gave the film four out of four, describing it as "a powerful but quiet film, constructed of hidden thoughts and secret desires".<ref>{{cite web | last = Ebert | first = Roger | title = The Lives of Others |work=Chicago Sun-Times | date = 21 September 2007 | url = https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-lives-of-others-2007-1 | access-date = 14 July 2010}}</ref> [[A. O. Scott]], reviewing the film in ''[[The New York Times]]'', wrote that ''Lives'' is well-plotted, and added, "The suspense comes not only from the structure and pacing of the scenes, but also, more deeply, from the sense that even in an oppressive society, individuals are burdened with free will. You never know, from one moment to the next, what course any of the characters will choose."<ref>{{cite news | first = A.O. | last = Scott | title = A Fugue for Good German Men |work=The New York Times | date = 9 February 2007 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/09/movies/09live.html | access-date = 2007-08-17}}</ref> ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' critic [[Kenneth Turan]] agreed that the dramatic tension comes from being "meticulously plotted", and that "it places its key characters in high-stakes predicaments where what they are forced to wager is their talent, their very lives, even their souls". The film "convincingly demonstrates that when done right, moral and political quandaries can be the most intensely dramatic dilemmas of all".<ref>{{cite web | first = Kenneth | last = Turan | title = The Lives of Others |work=Los Angeles Times| date = 1 December 2006 | url = http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/reviews/cl-et-lives1dec01,0,438344,print.story | access-date = 2007-08-17 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070509192655/http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/reviews/cl-et-lives1dec01,0,438344,print.story <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 9 May 2007}}</ref>

American commentator [[John Podhoretz]] called the film "one of the greatest movies ever made, and certainly the best film of this decade".<ref name="jp">{{cite web | last = Podhoretz | first = John | title = Ulrich Muhe RIP | publisher = National Review Online | date = 25 July 2007 | url = https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/ulrich-muhe-rip-john-podhoretz/ | access-date = 2007-08-17}}</ref> [[William F. Buckley, Jr.]] wrote in his syndicated column that after the film was over, "I turned to my companion and said, 'I think that is the best movie I ever saw.'"<ref>{{cite web | last=Buckley | first=William F. Jr. | title = Great Lives | publisher = [[National Review Online]] | date = 23 May 2007 | url = https://www.nationalreview.com/2007/05/great-lives-william-f-buckley-jr/ | access-date = 2007-08-17}}</ref> [[John J. Miller (journalist)|John J. Miller]] of ''[[National Review|National Review Online]]'' named it number one in his list of "The Best Conservative Movies" of the last 25 years.<ref>{{cite web | last = Miller | first = John | title = The Best Conservative Movies | publisher = [[National Review Online]] | date = 23 February 2009 | url = https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/1-best-conservative-movies-last-25-years-john-j-miller/ | access-date = 19 August 2009}}</ref>

Several critics pointed to the film's subtle building up of details as one of its prime strengths. The film is built "on layers of emotional texture", wrote Stephanie Zacharek in ''[[Salon.com|Salon]]'' online magazine.<ref name="zach" /> Josh Rosenblatt, writing in the ''Austin Chronicle'' called the film "a triumph of muted grandeur".<ref>{{cite web | first = Josh | last = Rosenblatt | title = The Lives of Others | publisher = [[Austin Chronicle]] | date = 2 March 2007 | url = https://www.austinchronicle.com/events/film/2007-03-02/the-lives-of-others/ | access-date = 2007-08-17}}</ref> Lisa Schwarzbaum, writing in ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]'', pointed out that some of the subtlety is due to the fact that its "tensest moments take place with the most minimal of action" but that the director still "conveys everything he wants us to know about choice, fear, doubt, cowardice, and heroism".<ref>{{cite magazine | last = Schwarzbaum | first = Lisa | title = Movie Review: The Lives of Others (2007) |magazine=Entertainment Weekly | date = 2 February 2007 | url = https://ew.com/article/2007/02/07/lives-others/ | access-date = 2007-08-17 }}</ref> An article in ''[[First Things]]'' makes a philosophical argument in defense of Wiesler's transformation.<ref>{{cite web| title = "Why Dictators Fear Artists" (2007) | publisher = [[First Things]] | date = 23 July 2007 | url = https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2007/07/why-dictators-fear-artists | access-date = 2007-08-24 }}</ref> The East German dissident songwriter [[Wolf Biermann]] was guardedly enthusiastic about the film, writing in a March 2006 article in ''Die Welt'': "The political tone is authentic, I was moved by the plot. But why? Perhaps I was just won over sentimentally, because of the seductive mass of details which look like they were lifted from my own past between the total ban of my work in 1965 and denaturalisation in 1976".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.signandsight.com/features/682.html |first=Wolf |last=Biermann |title=The ghosts are leaving the shadows |work=signandsight |access-date=7 June 2019 |date=29 March 2006 |author-link=Wolf Biermann }}</ref>

[[Anna Funder]], the author of the book ''[[Stasiland]]'', in a review for ''[[The Guardian]]'' called ''The Lives of Others'' a "superb film" despite not being true to reality. She claims that it was not possible for a Stasi operative to have hidden information from superiors because Stasi employees themselves were watched and almost always operated in teams.<ref name="af" />

In a 2016 [[BBC]] poll, critics voted the film the 32nd greatest since 2000.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20160819-the-21st-centurys-100-greatest-films |title=The 21st century's 100 greatest films |publisher=BBC |date=23 August 2016 |access-date=8 November 2016}}</ref> In 2025, the film ranked number 48 on ''[[The New York Times]]''{{'}}s list of "The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century."<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/movies/best-movies-21st-century.html | title=The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century | date=23 June 2025 }}</ref>

According to German author [[Christoph Hein]], the film is loosely based on his life story. In a 2019 article, he recalls that Donnersmarck interviewed him in 2002, and that his name was mentioned in the opening credits at the premiere. In Hein's opinion, the overly dramatic events of the film bear little resemblance to his life experience, which is why he asked Donnersmarck to delete his name from the credits. In Hein's words, "the movie does not depict the 1980s in the GDR" but is a "scary tale taking place in a fantasy land, comparable to Tolkien's [[Middle-earth]]".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.sueddeutsche.de/kultur/donnersmarck-hein-das-leben-der-anderen-1.4300244 |title=Warum ich meinen Namen aus "Das Leben der Anderen" löschen ließ |trans-title=Why I had my name deleted from 'The Lives of Others' |language=de |work=[[Süddeutsche Zeitung]] |date=24 January 2019 }}</ref>

===Awards and honors===
{{main|List of accolades received by The Lives of Others}}
The film and its principals have won numerous awards. Among the most prestigious are:

{{col-begin}}{{col-break}}
* [[79th Academy Awards]]
** [[Academy Award for Best International Feature Film|Best International Feature Film]]
* [[61st British Academy Film Awards]]
** [[BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language|Best Film Not in the English Language]]
* [[César Awards]]
** [[César Award for Best Foreign Film|Best Foreign Film]]
* [[European Film Awards]]
** Best Film
** Best Actor: [[Ulrich Mühe]]
** Best Screenwriter: [[Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck]]
* [[German Film Awards]]
** Best Film
** Best Actor
** Best Supporting Actor
** Best Director
** Best Cinematography
** Best Production Design
** Best Screenplay
* [[Bavarian Film Awards]] 2006
** Best Actor: Ulrich Mühe
** Best Newcomer Director: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
** Best Screenplay: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
* [[Vilnius International Film Festival]]
** The Audience Award
{{col-break|gap=4em}}
''The Lives of Others'' also appeared on many critics' lists of the ten best films of 2007.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/film/awards/2007/toptens.shtml |title=2007 Film Critic Top Ten Lists |access-date=2008-01-05 |publisher=[[Metacritic]] |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080102102034/http://www.metacritic.com/film/awards/2007/toptens.shtml <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 2 January 2008}}</ref>
* 1st: [[James Berardinelli]], [[ReelViews]]
* 1st: [[Shawn Anthony Levy|Shawn Levy]], ''[[The Oregonian]]''
* 2nd: ''[[Empire (magazine)|Empire]]''
* 2nd: Marjorie Baumgarten, ''[[The Austin Chronicle]]''
* 2nd: [[Michael Sragow]], ''[[The Baltimore Sun]]''
* 2nd: [[Richard Corliss]], [[Time (magazine)|''TIME'' magazine]]
* 3rd: Rene Rodriguez, ''[[The Miami Herald]]''
* 4th: [[David Ansen]], ''[[Newsweek]]''
* 4th: [[Stephen Holden]], ''[[The New York Times]]''
* 5th: [[Roger Ebert]], ''[[Chicago Sun Times]]''
* 5th: [[Richard Roeper]], ''[[Chicago Sun Times]]''
* 5th: Liam Lacey and Rick Groen, ''[[The Globe and Mail]]''
* 5th: [[Owen Gleiberman]], ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]''
* 7th: [[Christy Lemire]], [[Associated Press]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.columbiatribune.com/2007/Dec/20071227Go!013.asp |title='No Country for Old Men' earns nod from AP critics |access-date=2007-12-31 |first=David|last=Germain |author2=Christy Lemire  |date=27 December 2007 |agency=Associated Press |work=[[Columbia Daily Tribune]] |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080103000750/http://www.columbiatribune.com/2007/Dec/20071227Go!013.asp <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 3 January 2008}}</ref>
* 7th: Tasha Robinson, ''[[The A.V. Club]]''
* 8th: [[A.O. Scott]], ''[[The New York Times]]'' (tied with ''[[Michael Clayton (film)|Michael Clayton]]'')
* 8th: [[Kyle Smith (critic)|Kyle Smith]], ''[[New York Post]]''
{{col-end}}

===Acclaim===
[[The Europe List]], the largest survey on European culture established that the top three films in European culture are:
# [[Roberto Benigni|Roberto Benigni's]] ''[[Life is Beautiful]]''<ref name=europelist />
# [[Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck|Donnersmarck's]] ''The Lives of Others''<ref name=europelist />
# [[Jean-Pierre Jeunet|Jean-Pierre Jeunet's]] ''[[Amélie]]''<ref name=europelist>{{cite web|url = http://www.goethe.de/ins/be/prj/eli/erg/ges/enindex.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130705170658/http://www.goethe.de/ins/be/prj/eli/erg/ges/enindex.htm |archive-date=5 July 2013 |publisher = Goethe Institute|title = The self-perception of Europeans in comparison with the perception of other countries |work=[[Goethe Institute]] |access-date=7 June 2019 }}</ref>
Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Netherlands and Sweden had the film at number one.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.goethe.de/ins/be/prj/eli/erg/ler/enindex.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130705181345/http://www.goethe.de/ins/be/prj/eli/erg/ler/enindex.htm |title=EUROPE LIST: On the search for a European culture - National results |access-date=7 June 2019 |work=[[Goethe Institute]] |archive-date=5 July 2013 }}</ref>

==Proposed remake==
In February 2007, [[Sydney Pollack]] and [[Anthony Minghella]] announced a deal with [[The Weinstein Company]] to produce and direct an English-language remake of ''The Lives of Others''.<ref>{{cite magazine | url= https://variety.com/2007/film/features/weinsteins-keep-sight-of-mirage-1117960314/ | title= Weinsteins keep sight of Mirage | date= February 28, 2007|magazine= [[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] | access-date=2011-08-08}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | title = Lives of Others set for Hollywood remake |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] | date = March 1, 2007 | url = https://www.theguardian.com/film/2007/mar/01/news |url-access=registration | access-date = 2007-08-17 }}</ref> Minghella died in March 2008<ref>{{cite news | title = Anthony Minghella, Director, Dies at 54 | url = http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/18/movies/18cnd-minghella.html |url-access=subscription |newspaper= [[The New York Times]] |date = 18 March 2008 | access-date = 2011-08-08| first=David | last=Carr}}</ref> and Pollack died less than three months later.<ref>{{cite news | first=Michael |last=Cieply  |author-link=Michael Cieply |title=Sydney Pollack, Film Director, Is Dead at 73 |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/27/movies/27pollack.html |url-access=subscription |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date= May 27, 2008 | access-date = 2011-08-08}}</ref>

==Influence==

===Israeli intelligence controversy===
In September 2014, 43 members of the Israeli elite clandestine [[Unit 8200]] wrote a letter to Israel's prime minister and army chief, refusing further service and claiming Israel made "no distinction between Palestinians who are and are not involved in violence" and that information collected "harms innocent people". One of these people named a viewing of ''The Lives of Others'' as "the transformational moment".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/13/world/middleeast/elite-israeli-officers-decry-treatment-of-palestinians.html?module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3Ar%2C%7B%221%22%3A%22RI%3A8%22%7D|title = Veterans of Elite Israeli Unit Refuse Reserve Duty, Citing Treatment of Palestinians|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 12 September 2014|last1 = Rudoren|first1 = Jodi}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/12/israeli-intelligence-unit-testimonies|title = 'Any Palestinian is exposed to monitoring by the Israeli Big Brother'|website = [[TheGuardian.com]]|date = 12 September 2014}}</ref>

===2013 mass surveillance disclosures===
''The Lives of Others'' has been referred to in political protests following the [[2013 mass surveillance disclosures]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/european-officials-lash-out-at-new-nsa-spying-report/ |agency=AP |title=European officials lash out at new NSA spying report|date= 30 June 2013|work=CBS News |access-date=7 June 2019 }}</ref> [[Daniel Ellsberg]] in an interview with [[Brad Friedman]] on [[Pacifica Radio|KPFK/Pacifica Radio]] republished on [[salon.com]] stressed the importance of ''The Lives of Others'' in light of [[Edward Snowden]]'s revelations:<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.salon.com/2013/06/14/daniel_ellsberg_edward_snowden_is_a_patriot_partner/ |title=Daniel Ellsberg: Edward Snowden is a patriot|first=Brad|last=Friedman | date=14 June 2013 |access-date=7 June 2019 }}</ref>

{{blockquote|{{sc|Ellsberg}}: My knowledge of the Stasi is not very extensive, but it's largely from a movie called ''The Lives of Others'', which won the Oscar for "Best Foreign Film" some years ago. Everybody should get that now. It should be reissued now. Preferably. It has subtitles. In German. But I'd like to see it dubbed so it had a wider audience. What that shows is what life can be with a government that knew as much as the Stasi did then. But if they know{{snd}}and one thing they can do with that information right now{{snd}}is to turn people into informants, so that the government has not only the information that people say on electronic devices, they have what they say in the bedroom, because their wife or their whoever{{snd}}spouse{{snd}}is an informant. As happened in the movie. That is what did happen in East Germany. And if we were to get that here, and there's the infrastructure for it right now, we will become a democratic republic in the same sense as the East German Democratic Republic.}}

Film critic and historian [[Carrie Rickey]] believes that ''The Lives of Others'' was one of two movies that influenced Snowden's actions, the other being the 1974 [[Francis Ford Coppola]] film ''[[The Conversation]]'', both being about wiretappers troubled by guilt.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/she-the-people/wp/2013/07/15/what-should-edward-im-a-brave-martyr-but-i-wanna-go-home-snowden-do-now/ | title=What should Edward 'I'm a brave martyr but I wanna go home' Snowden do now? |newspaper = The Washington Post| first=Sheila Weller|last=Hoffmann|date=15 July 2013}}</ref>

{{blockquote|Both movies are about the morality of surveillance and the questionable reliability of information harvested{{snd}}and how listeners can be duped and/or can misinterpret raw data. I would recommend these films to anyone interested in great movies that touch on the issues raised by L'Affaire Snowden.}}

On 25 June 2013, after revelations of collaboration between the [[NSA]] and [[GCHQ]], British journalist and documentary maker [[Sarfraz Manzoor]] tweeted that "Now would be a good time to pitch a British remake of ''The Lives of Others''."<ref>{{cite web | url=https://twitter.com/sarfrazmanzoor/status/349660974539751429 | title=quote-sarfaraz | publisher=Sarfraz Manzoor | access-date=18 August 2013}}</ref> On 16 July 2013, American novelist and frequent cable news commentator Brad Thor stated: "At what point did the Obama administration acquire the rights to reenact ''The Lives of Others''?"<ref>{{cite web | url=https://twitter.com/BradThor/status/357295052285952002 | title=Brad Thor- Lives of Others | publisher=Brad Thor | access-date=18 August 2013}}</ref>

French President [[Nicolas Sarkozy]] gave an interview in ''[[Le Figaro]]'' expressing his outrage over his being the target of surveillance. He drew a direct comparison to the film: "This is not a scene from that marvellous film ''The Lives of Others'', about East Germany and the activities of the Stasi. It is not the case of some dictator acting against his political opponents. This is France."<ref name="newyorker.com">{{Cite magazine|url=http://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/how-snowdens-revelations-saved-sarkozy|title = How Snowden's Revelations Saved Sarkozy|magazine = [[The New Yorker]]|date = 17 April 2014}}</ref> Because of this interview, sales of ''[[Le Figaro]]'' more than doubled.<ref name="newyorker.com"/>

==Libel suit==
Henckel von Donnersmarck and Ulrich Mühe were successfully sued for libel for an interview in which Mühe asserted that his second wife, [[Jenny Gröllmann]], informed the Stasi about his activities while they were East German citizens<ref name="arnyt">{{cite news | title = Behind the Berlin Wall, Listening to Life |work=The New York Times| date  = 7 January 2007 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/07/movies/awardsseason/07ridi.html | access-date = 2007-07-27 | first=Alan | last=Riding}}</ref> through the six years of their marriage.<ref name="globe">{{cite web | first = Colin | last = Nickerson | title = German film prompts open debate on Stasi: A forbidden topic captivates nation |work=The Boston Globe | date = 29 May 2006 | url =https://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2006/05/29/german_film_prompts_open_debate_on_stasi/ }}</ref> Mühe's former wife denied the claims, although 254 pages of government records detailed her activities.<ref name="zach">{{cite web | last = Zacharek | first = Stephanie | title = The Lives of Others | work = [[Salon.com]] | date = 9 February 2007 | url = http://www.salon.com/2007/02/09/lives_of_others/ | access-date = 2007-08-17}}</ref> However, Gröllmann's real-life controller later claimed he had made up many of the details in the file and that the actress had been unaware that she was speaking to a Stasi agent.<ref>{{cite news | title = Ulrich Mühe Obituary | work = The Telegraph| date = 27 July 2007 | url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1558608/Ulrich-Muhe.html | access-date = 2012-11-30}}</ref>

==Literature and music==
* Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck: ''Das Leben der anderen.'' Suhrkamp, Frankfurt am Main 2006, {{ISBN|3-518-45786-1}}
* Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck: ''Das Leben der anderen. Geschwärzte Ausgabe.'' Suhrkamp, Frankfurt am Main 2007, {{ISBN|3-518-45908-2}}
* The [[piano sonata]] "Sonata for a Good Man", used as the main transformation point of the [[Stasi]] Agent Gerd Wiesler, does not carry the name of the composer, as it is original music written for the film by [[Gabriel Yared]].
* Regarding [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]]'s [[Piano Sonata No. 23 (Beethoven)|Appassionata]], [[Vladimir Lenin|Lenin]] is quoted as having said that: "If I keep listening to it, I won't finish the revolution".
* An excerpt from a 1920 poem by [[Bertold Brecht]], "[[Reminiscence of Marie A.]]", is recited in the film in a scene in which Wiesler reads it on his couch, having taken it from Dreyman's desk.
* The poem "Versuch es" by [[Wolfgang Borchert]] is set to music in the film and played as Dreyman writes the article about suicide. Borchert was a playwright whose life was destroyed by his experience of being drafted into the Wehrmacht in World War II and fighting on the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]].

==See also==
* [[List of films featuring surveillance]]
* [[Telephone tapping in the Eastern Bloc]]

==References==
'''Notes'''
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

'''Bibliography'''
* Paul Cooke (ed.): ''"The Lives of Others" and Contemporary German Film. A Companion.'' De Gruyter, Berlin/Boston 2013, {{ISBN|978-3-11-026810-2}}.
* [[John Hamilton (musician, scholar)]]: Conspiracy, Security, and Human Care in Donnersmarck's Leben der Anderen. ''[[Historical Social Research]]'' Vol. 38 (2013), No. 1, pp.&nbsp;129–141.
* [https://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2006/05/29/german_film_prompts_open_debate_on_stasi/ Article] in the ''[[Boston Globe]]'' about the film's political impact in Germany
* [https://www.indiewire.com/people/2007/02/people_florian.html Interview in indieWIRE] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070210072811/http://www.indiewire.com/people/2007/02/people_florian.html |date=10 February 2007 }} with [[Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck]] about the film
* [https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7238828 Directing 'The Lives of Others'] ([http://pd.npr.org/anon.npr-mp3/npr/fa/2007/02/20070207_fa_01.mp3 audio]), a February 2007 [[Fresh Air]] interview
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080205013113/http://histoforum.digischool.nl/lesmateriaal/thelivesofothers.htm Teaching material] from digischool.nl

==External links==
* {{Official website|http://www.thelivesofothers.com}}
* {{IMDb title|0405094|The Lives of Others}}
* {{mojo title|livesofothers|The Lives of Others}}
* {{rotten-tomatoes|the_lives_of_others|The Lives of Others}}
* {{Metacritic film|title=The Lives of Others}}

{{Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck}}
{{Navboxes
|title = [[List of accolades received by The Lives of Others|Awards for ''The Lives of Others'']]
|list =
{{AcademyAwardBestForeignLanguageFilm 2001–2020}}
{{AARP Movies for Grownups Award for Best Foreign Film}}
{{BAFTA Best Foreign Language Film}}
{{BIFA BestForeignFilm}}
{{César Award for Best Foreign Film}}
{{David di Donatello for Best European Film}}
{{Dublin Film Critics Circle Award for Best Film}}
{{European Film Award for Best Film}}
{{German Film Award for Best Film}}
{{Guldbagge Award Best Foreign Film}}
{{Independent Spirit Award for Best International Film}}
{{IFTA Award for Best International Film}}
{{London Film Critics Circle Award for Foreign Language Film of the Year}}
{{Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Language Film}}
{{New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Foreign Language Film}}
{{Warsaw Film Festival Audience Award}}
{{Polish Academy Award for Best European Film}}
}}
{{German submission for Academy Awards}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lives Of Others}}
[[Category:2000s German-language films]]
[[Category:2000s political thriller films]]
[[Category:2000s spy films]]
[[Category:2006 directorial debut films]]
[[Category:2006 drama films]]
[[Category:2006 films]]
[[Category:Best Foreign Film César Award winners]]
[[Category:Best Foreign Film Guldbagge Award winners]]
[[Category:Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award winners]]
[[Category:Best Foreign Language Film BAFTA Award winners]]
[[Category:Cold War films]]
[[Category:European Film Awards winners (films)]]
[[Category:Films about intelligence agencies]]
[[Category:Films about journalism]]
[[Category:Films about playwrights]]
[[Category:Films about security and surveillance]]
[[Category:Films about sexual abuse]]
[[Category:Films about suicide]]
[[Category:Films about the Berlin Wall]]
[[Category:Films about writers]]
[[Category:Films critical of communism]]
[[Category:Films directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck]]
[[Category:Films scored by Gabriel Yared]]
[[Category:Films set in 1984]]
[[Category:Films set in 1985]]
[[Category:Films set in 1989]]
[[Category:Films set in 1992]]
[[Category:Films set in 1994]]
[[Category:Films set in Berlin]]
[[Category:Films set in East Germany]]
[[Category:German political thriller films]]
[[Category:Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Film winners]]
[[Category:Buena Vista International films]]
[[Category:Sony Pictures Classics films]]
[[Category:Works about the Stasi]]
[[Category:2000s German films]]