"The Lives Of Others" directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck

Here is a trailer for a brilliant and timely film about a paranoid state (The East German GDR in 1984) and its obsession "to know everything" about its citizens, who were treated little better than "inmates". The film ironically positions itself during the time of George Orwell's novel entitled after the same year.

Given the regular cases that crop up in the US of people being spied on by their neighbours and work colleagues FOR YEARS and the sheer numbers of CCTV cameras in Britain (at the last count 4.2 million. One for every fourteen people in the UK!) the coming economic downturn will create a climate of western states who want "to know everything" about their citizens. Western governments are already well down that particular path as technology makes spying on people far easier than it has been before.

Paul Greengrasses's fast-moving "The Bourn Ultimatum" explores a similar issue. You would need to go back to Francis Ford Coppulas' "The Conversation" (1974) featuring Gene Hackman as Harry Caul to find another narrative about bugging in which the listener is affected by those he listens into. But then the 1970s was a period during which government paranoia was also high.

The Lives Of Others - Trailer - HiQ

Posted Jun 07, 2007

Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's movie debut focuses on the horrifying, sometimes unintentionally funny system of observation in the former East Germany.

"The Lives of Others" is a must-see movie!