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''The Lives of Others'' () is a 2006 German drama film, marking the feature film debut of filmmaker Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, about the monitoring of East Berlin residents by agents of the Stasi, the GDR's secret police. It stars Ulrich Mühe (who died within a year of the film's release) 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 in Germany on 23 March 2006. At the same time, the screenplay was published by Suhrkamp Verlag. ''The Lives of Others'' won the 2006 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language 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 was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 64th Golden Globe Awards. ''The Lives of Others'' cost US$2 million〔 and grossed more than US$77 million worldwide .〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=The Lives of Others (2007) )〕 Released 17 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall marking the end of the East German socialist state, it was the first noticeable drama film about the subject after a series of comedies such as ''Goodbye, Lenin!'' and ''Sonnenallee''. This approach was widely applauded in Germany even as some criticized the humanization of Wiesler's character. Many former East Germans were stunned by the factual accuracy of the film's set and atmosphere, accurately portraying a state which merged with West Germany and ceased to exist 16 years prior to the release. The film's authenticity was considered notable, given that the director grew up outside of East Germany and was only sixteen when the Berlin Wall fell. ==Plot== In 1984 East Germany, Stasi Hauptmann Gerd Wiesler (Ulrich Mühe), code name HGW XX/7, suggests to his superiors that he begin to spy on the playwright Georg Dreyman (Sebastian Koch). Wiesler and his team bug the apartment, set up surveillance equipment in an attic, and begin reporting Dreyman's activities. Dreyman, who escaped state scrutiny due to his pro-Communist views and international recognition, soon learns the real reason behind the surveillance: Minister of Culture Bruno Hempf (Thomas Thieme) covets Dreyman's girlfriend, actress Christa-Maria Sieland (Martina Gedeck), and is trying to eliminate Dreyman as a romantic rival. While Wiesler's superior, Lt. Col. Anton Grubitz (Ulrich Tukur), sees an opportunity for advancement, the idealist Wiesler asks Grubitz, "Is this why we joined?" Minister Hempf coerces Sieland into having sex with him by exploiting her vulnerability as an insecure actress. After discovering Sieland's relationship with Hempf, Dreyman implores her not to meet him again. Sieland flees to a nearby bar where Wiesler, posing as a fan, urges her to be true to herself. She returns home and reconciles with Dreyman, rejecting Hempf. Though a communist and supporter of the regime, Dreyman becomes disillusioned with the treatment of his colleagues by the state. At his birthday party, his friend Albert Jerska (a blacklisted theatrical director) gives him sheet music for ''Sonate vom Guten Menschen'' (''Sonata for a Good Man''). Shortly afterwards, Jerska hangs himself. Dreyman decides to publish an anonymous article on the East German suicide rate in ''Der Spiegel'', a prominent West German newsweekly. Dreyman's article accuses the state of callously ignoring those who commit suicide. Since all East German typewriters are registered, an editor of ''Der Spiegel'' smuggles Dreyman a miniature typewriter with a red ribbon. Dreyman hides the typewriter in the floor of his apartment, but is seen one afternoon by Sieland hiding it there as she returns to the apartment. Meanwhile, a disillusioned Wiesler has a change of heart about his own role in protecting the regime. When Dreyman and his friends check whether his flat is bugged, Wiesler, who has become sympathetic to Dreyman, does not alert the border guards, and the conspirators believe they are safe. After learning that it was Dreyman who actually wrote the article, Wiesler races to Colonel Grubitz's office intending to notify his boss of the breakthrough; but as soon as he hears Grubitz talk about how to silence dissident artists like Dreyman, Wiesler changes his mind and asks for the surveillance to be scaled back. A few days later, Dreyman's article is published, angering the East German authorities. The Stasi obtains a copy of the suicide article, typewritten in red ink, but they are unable to link it to any typewriter legally registered in the GDR. Livid at being jilted by Sieland and her abuse of prescription medication, Hempf orders Grubitz to arrest her. She is blackmailed into revealing Dreyman's authorship of the article and becoming an informant. When the Stasi search his apartment, however, they cannot find the typewriter. Dreyman and his friends conclude that Sieland could not have informed because she would have given away the location of the hidden typewriter. Grubitz, suspicious that Wiesler has mentioned nothing unusual in his daily reports of the monitoring, gives Wiesler "one more chance" and orders him to do the follow-up interrogation of Sieland. Wiesler resumes his role as Stasi interrogator and forces Sieland to tell him exactly where the typewriter is hidden. Grubitz and the Stasi return to Dreyman's apartment. Sieland panics when she realizes that Dreyman will know she betrayed him and flees the apartment. When Grubitz removes the floor, however, the typewriter is gone—Wiesler having removed the hidden evidence. Unaware that the typewriter was removed, Sieland runs to the street and commits suicide by stepping into the path of an oncoming truck. Grubitz offers a perfunctory claim of sympathy and informs Dreyman that the investigation is over. Wiesler drives Grubitz back to the Stasi and is told that his career is over, and that his remaining 20 years with the agency will be in Department M, a dead-end position for disgraced agents. As he leaves, Grubitz discards a newspaper announcing Mikhail Gorbachev as the new leader of the Soviet Union. On November 9, 1989, Wiesler is steaming open letters in the cramped, windowless office of Department M when a co-worker tells him about the fall of the Berlin Wall. Realizing that this will mean the end of the GDR and the Stasi, Wiesler silently stands and leaves the office, inspiring his co-workers to do the same. Two years later, Hempf and Dreyman have a chance encounter while both are attending a new performance of Dreyman's play. Dreyman asks the former government minister why he had never been monitored. Much to his surprise, Hempf tells him that he had, in fact, been under full surveillance and to "look behind the light switches" for the listening devices that had been installed in 1984. At the Stasi Records Agency, Dreyman reviews the files the Stasi kept while he was under surveillance. He reads that Sieland was released just before the second search, and could not have removed the typewriter. As he goes through his files, he is at first confused by the false and contradicting information that has been written about his activities, but when he reaches the final typewritten report, he sees a fingerprint in red ink just under the signature. Dreyman finally realizes that it was the writer—Stasi agent HGW XX/7—who had knowingly concealed his illegal activities, including his authorship of the suicide article, and that he had been the one who had removed the typewriter from its hidden location. Dreyman searches for Wiesler, who has a job delivering advertisement leaflets, and finds him on his round. Unsure of what to say to him, however, he decides not to approach him. Two years later, Wiesler still has the same job and, whilst on his round, passes a bookstore window display promoting Dreyman's new novel, ''Sonate vom Guten Menschen''. He goes inside and opens a copy of the book, discovering it is dedicated "To HGW XX/7, with gratitude". Deeply moved, Wiesler buys the book. When the sales clerk asks if he wants it gift-wrapped, he responds, "No. It's for me." 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Lives of Others」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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