Categories: cinema
Date: 15 April 2007 06:20:39
I saw The Lives of Others yesterday: and can heartily recommend it. Margaret and David's, two well-known reviewers down here, review is here.
A wondrous cast; an intriguing and compelling storyline, with plenty of unexpected twist and turns -- and an amazing ending; and fantastic filming and directing. At 132 minutes, you may think it long, but I was gripped at every moment, and I've seen shorter films that had me checking the time. The movie is set in 1984 in East Germany, where the Stasi, the secret police, used an extensive network of spies and surveillance to know everything about the citizens of the GDR. A timely reminder perhaps, with many countries introducing stricter laws and surveillance in the shadow of terrorism, as to what can happen when the state monitors your behaviour in the most ultimate and pervasive terms.