DVD of the Week: The Lives Of Others

This Oscar winning German drama from director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck is a stunning, suspenseful story of intrigue. Set in the 1980s, prior to the fall of the Berlin wall, the film depicts the invasive spying techniques of East Germany on suspected threats, most specifically - in this film, anyway - outspoken artists of the region. Dramatist Georg Dryman (Sebastian Koch) and his actress girlfriend Christa-Maria Sieland (Martina Gedeck) are the latest to have their home bugged and listened in on. It's to their advantage that one of their monitors, Agent Wiesler, (Ulrich Mühe) grows fondly fascinated by their lush upper crust lives. He begins compromising his reports and pursuing the couple on his own time. What results is a tightly wound thriller with political resonance. It's not just the story of the Germans abusive tactics, but also a tense portrait of a man who has become desperately transfixed and the complicated, cracked lives of the unworthy subjects of his adoration.