Faculty Picks
THE LIVES OF OTHERS
DIRECTOR: FLORIAN HENCKEL VON DONNERSMARCK
GERMANY, 2006
FACULTY PRESENTER: HOLLY BRIX—A sweeping tale of the cruel exigencies of life in the former East Berlin, the story unfolds five years before the Communist downfall in 1989. In a climate of ruthless control and surveillance, Party loyalist Captain Gerd Wiesler hopes to boost his career when given the job of collecting evidence against an activist playwright and his girlfriend, a celebrated actress. But scrutinizing their lives has unforeseen consequences for Wiesler. The immersion in the lives of others—their love, literature, free thinking, and politics—makes Wiesler acutely aware of the emptiness of his own existence, opening him to a new way of thinking about the implications of personal acts. “Films have an obligation to entertain, an invitation to inspire, but when they capture the truth of human experience, they pierce you, and they transcend. This is film at its best.”—Holly Brix. (137 mins.)
School of Film screenwriting instructor Holly Brix will introduce the film.