Ulrich Muhe in “The Lives of Others" at the Figge Art Museum -- February 5.
Thursday, February 5, 6 p.m.
Figge Art Museum, 225 West Second Street, Davenport IA
Winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and currently sitting with 92-percent approval on Rotten Tomatoes, writer/director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's 2006 dramatic thriller The Lives of Others enjoys a February 5 screening at Davenport's Figge Art Museum, legendary critic Roger Ebert, in his four-star review, calling the work "a powerful but quiet film constructed of hidden thoughts and secret desires."
The story of The Lives of Us centers around the covert audio surveillance of East Berlin residents by a senior operative of the Stasi, the secret police of the former East Germany (German Democratic Republic). It stars Ulrich Mühe 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. Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's feature debut was released by Buena Vista International in Germany on March 23, 2006, and by Sony Pictures Classics in North America on February 7, 2007.
The Lives of Others won the 2007 Academy Award for Best International Feature Film, and the movie 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 also won the British Academy of Film & Television BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language and European Film Award for Best Film, while it was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film. The Lives of Others cost roughly $2 million in U.S. dollars and ultimately grossed more than $77 million worldwide.
Released 17 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, marking the end of the German Democratic Republic, The Lives of Others was the first notable drama film about the subject after a series of comedies such as Good Bye, Lenin! and Sonnenallee. This approach was widely applauded in Germany, and the film was complimented for its accurate tone despite some criticism that Wiesler's character was depicted with undue sympathy. The film's authenticity was considered praiseworthy given that the director grew up outside of East Germany and was 16 when the Berlin Wall fell. Rotten Tomatoes' critical consensus, meanwhile, states: "Unlike more traditional spy films, The Lives of Others doesn't sacrifice character for cloak and dagger chases, and the performances (notably that by the late Ulrich Muhe) stay with you."
The Lives of Others enjoys its John Deere Auditorium screening on February 5, there is no charge for the 6 p.m. "Free Film at the Figge" showing, and patrons are invited to sick around after the film for discussion and complimentary courtesy of Barb Zimmerman. The Figge bar with food options will be open at 5 p.m. (cards only), and more information on the evening is available by calling (563)326-7804 and visiting FiggeArtMuseum.org.
