TELESCOPE Find international film
Browse All Films

Advanced Options

 

The Lives of Others(Das Leben der Anderen)

A tragic love story set in East Berlin --- with the backdrop of an undercover Stasi controlled culture. Stasi captain Wiesler is ordered to follow potentially dangerous author Dreyman and his lover, Christa-Maria. His surveillance leads him to become more and more absorbed in the couple's life, until he reaches the threshold of doubting the system.
X

WHAT ARE PEOPLE SAYING?

Asia Cureton Profile picture for Asia Cureton

Though the setting of divided Germany is important, it's the film's characters that really made me enjoy this film. Not only were the characters complex and sympathetic, but they felt believable and real. Humanizing a Stasi officer seems like a tough task, but Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck does a great job. Though this film certainly has its dark and uncomfortable moments, this film is surprisingly human and compassionate. One of my favorite period dramas about East Berlin.

Add your comment here.

WHAT ARE CRITICS SAYING?

80

The Hollywood Reporter by

Starts out dark and challenging then comes to a startlingly satisfying and warmly human conclusion that lingers long after the curtain has come down.
100

The New Yorker by Anthony Lane

If there is any justice, this year's Academy Award for best foreign-language film will go to The Lives of Others, a movie about a world in which there is no justice.
90

Newsweek by David Ansen

It's hard to believe this is von Donnersmarck's first feature. His storytelling gifts have the novelistic richness of a seasoned master. The accelerating plot twists are more than just clever surprises; they reverberate with deep and painful ironies, creating both suspense and an emotional impact all the more powerful because it creeps up so quietly.
90

New York Magazine (Vulture) by David Edelstein

Ulrich Mühe gives a marvelously self-contained performance. There isn't an ounce of fat on his body, or in his acting: He has pared himself down to a pair of eyes that prowl the faces of his character's countrymen for signs of arrogance--i.e., of independent thinking.
80

Variety by Derek Elley

Superbly cast drama… that looks to be a solid upscale attraction wherever the special chemistry of good writing and performances is appreciated.
88

ReelViews by James Berardinelli

With solid performances and a terrific screenplay, this movie offers solid, no-frills drama that feels organic and believable, not contrived.
50

L.A. Weekly by Scott Foundas

The Lives of Others wants us to see that the Stasi -- at least some of them -- were, like their Gestapo brethren, “just following orders." You can call that naive optimism on Donnersmarck's part, or historical revisionism of the sort duly lambasted by the current film version of Alan Bennett's "The History Boys." I, for one, tremble at the thought of what this young director does for an encore.

USERS WHO LIKED THIS FILM ALSO LIKED

French movie from 2007: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Julian Schnabel
2007 France, USA

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
(Le scaphandre et le papillon)

  • ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
  • France, USA • 2007
  • Director Julian Schnabel
  • Cast Mathieu Amalric, Emmanuelle Seigner, Marie-Josée Croze, Anne Consigny, Patrick Chesnais, Niels Arestrup
  • Genre Drama
  • Available on Google Play, FandangoNOW, YouTube, Cinemax, Cinemax Amazon Channel, DIRECTV, VUDU, Amazon, Microsoft Movies & TV

The true story of Elle France editor Jean-Dominique Bauby, who suffered a stroke at the age of 43 that paralyzed his entire body except for his left eye.

Play Trailer
Trailer
 
Add to watchlist
X
English movie from 1993: In the Name of the Father

In the Name of the Father

Jim Sheridan
1993 Ireland, United Kingdom, USA

In the Name of the Father

  • ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
  • Ireland, United Kingdom, USA • 1993
  • Director Jim Sheridan
  • Cast Daniel Day-Lewis, Pete Postlethwaite, Emma Thompson, John Lynch, Corin Redgrave, Beatie Edney
  • Genre Drama
  • Available on FandangoNOW, Google Play, iTunes, VUDU, Amazon, Microsoft Movies & TV, Redbox, YouTube, DIRECTV

A small time thief from Belfast, Gerry Conlon, is falsely implicated in the IRA bombing of a pub that kills several people while he is in London.

Play Trailer
Trailer
 
Add to watchlist
X
Spanish movie from 2009: The Secret in Their Eyes

The Secret in Their Eyes

Juan José Campanella
2009 Argentina, Spain

The Secret in Their Eyes
(El secreto de sus ojos)

  • ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
  • Argentina, Spain • 2009
  • Director Juan José Campanella
  • Cast Ricardo Darín, Soledad Villamil, Pablo Rago, Javier Godino, Guillermo Francella, Carla Quevedo
  • Genre Crime, Drama, Mystery
  • Available on iTunes, Amazon, Microsoft Movies & TV, AMC, Google Play, VUDU, FandangoNOW, Redbox, YouTube, DIRECTV

A retired legal counsellor uses an unresolved case from his career as inspiration for his novel, but revisiting the past can be dangerous.

Play Trailer
Trailer
 
Add to watchlist
X