The Lives of Others

The Lives of Others, the 2006 film written and directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, is truly multi-layer. Through the many levels, the film became so intricate and complex but every detail was purposeful. The mood was introduced early on as somber with uncomfortable scenes like the rape scene in the car with Hempf and Christa-Maria.
The music played a crucial role in the film beginning in the first scene. The same music played when someone was observing someone else. When Weisler is watching the play at the beginning he is watching the audience and Dreyman, and at that moment an oboe tune plays. The same music plays when they are watching Dreyman in the street playing with the children while they are about to bug his apartment.
The use of space was also really interesting. They went from super focused angles on characters to wider panned shots. These single pan shots were mostly used on Weisler. To me, he was the main character. His character developed the most and it was he who really had the hero’s journey. He had the desire to serve the party and he faced opposition from within.
Von Donnersmarck demonstrated the power of film. Every minor detail was significant in providing context for the film. The colors, the names of the characters, the music, the shots- each one of those aspects contributed to the plot, the narrative, and the overall mood of the film.
The most interesting thing to watch Weisler’s character evolve from robot to human: from the scene in the elevator with the little boy, to the end in the interrogation room. He proved Dreymans originally theory that people really can change. Roger Ebert wrote “Wiesler is a fascinating character. His face is a mask, trained by his life to reflect no emotion. Sometimes not even his eyes move. As played in Muehe's performance of infinite subtlety, he watches Dreyman as a cat awaits a mouse. And he begins to internalize their lives -- easy, because he has no life of his own, no lover, no hobby, no distraction from his single-minded job,” and I completely agree.