The Lives of Others - (Das Leben der Anderen): Microphone? What microphone?

i think part of it is that most brits and americans know jack shit about east germany and so this film functions as a de facto history lesson whether it likes it or not; it fails in this regard i think, but it's not fair to look at it only from that pov

my biggest complaint: no musical numbers

which is where "top secret" really pulls away from the pack

this movie really needed Omar Sharif.

And Hildegard Knef.

most brits and americans know jack shit about east germany and so this film functions as a de facto history lesson

right, and I think it's especially cheeky to complain about the treatment of the protagonist here when like 2/3rds of the entire anglophone cinematic tradition is about those colorful rapey blood-soaked sociopaths who built our respective countries into what they are today, america esp. with all them westerns (also I finally watched gangs of ny lol)

i complain about those too!

though the usual western trope is the exact reverse, right? the law-abiding man of peace who circumstances force to become a killer in order to protect his family/town/etc

"You are a good-looking boy. You have big, broad shoulders. But he is a man. And it takes more than big, broad shoulders to make a man."

right, and I think it's especially cheeky to complain about the treatment of the protagonist here when like 2/3rds of the entire anglophone cinematic tradition is about those colorful rapey blood-soaked sociopaths who built our respective countries into what they are today, america esp. with all them westerns (also I finally watched gangs of ny lol)

what the fuck does this have to with the fact that the protagonist's evolution into a Rilke-loving quasi-softie is convincing?

I saw it. I liked it, though I had a little more trouble with the believability of Dreyman, rather than Wiesler.

fukk all y'all i CRIED REAL TEARS at the end of this

so this is showing on the big screen here soon - worth seeing? didn't want to go through the thread for fear of spoilers. should be noted I'm not a big fan of calculated shmaltz (I did cry in theaters during A.I. though)

it's pretty good, looks really nice, and obv the historical setting is fascinating. but maybe leave 10 mins before the end if you don't like schmaltz :)

haha - not sure how the people I would be seeing it with would take it. I'll tell them I need to make some stock trades

yes it's good. leave when they stop steaming envelopes because maybe you are allergic to envelopes.

i liked this a lot, saw it in the cinema and really loved it until the end, which is pretty shit. But apart from that enjoyable.