Š-DR- FROZEN RIVER de Courtney Hunt (2008) p3

16/07/2015 14:30 par tellurikwaves

En gros, elle sait exactement ce qu’elle veut – et ce qu’on veut, par la même occasion – et c’est tant mieux.C’est d’ailleurs grâce à cette façon de fonctionner que l’on se retrouve à plusieurs reprises en plein milieu de l’intrigue, totalement absorbé par la puissance des évènements.Au-delà de la mise en scène qui parvient à faire se déclencher les péripéties au bon endroit, au bon moment, il faut aussi souligner le fait que Courtney Hunt a su mettre de son côté quelques très bons comédiens. Bien entendu, c’est à l’actrice principale – Melissa Leo – que l’on pense en priorité.

En effet, son personnage caractériel à souhait – qui la fait passer pour une femme aigrie auprès de son fils –, prête à tout pour que le sapin de Noël abrite des cadeaux, demeure l’un des points les plus touchants du film. Cependant, Misty Upham (que l’on retrouve  dans Django Unchained, de Tarantino  mérite elle-aussi une part de gloire pour sa prestation au moins aussi forte – dans le rôle d’une Mohawk malvoyante au grand cœur. « Grand cœur »… Voici une expression que l’on pourrait volontiers attribuer à Frozen River, ce drame plein d’émotion qui parvient à nous faire agripper le premier objet venu chaque fois que la voiture s’aventure sur la fameuse rivière gelée.

Chaque fois que les deux femmes passent devant une voiture de patrouille. Chaque fois que tout ne se passe pas comme prévu. Enfin, si les qualités de cette Frozen River sont plutôt simples à identifier, on peut malgré tout regretter que le long-métrage s’avère aussi simple sur le fond que sur la forme. Ce minimalisme a un nom, qui sévit particulièrement depuis quelques années et, souvent, empêche à certains longs- métrages très prometteurs d’atteindre le statut de chef-d’œuvre. J’ai nommé Sundance.

Le film ici présent obéit en effet à ce conformisme assez décevant. En dépit d’une musique un peu trop classique – bien que généralement absente – et d’une photographie qui se contente amplement des décors, on peut décerner un certain manque de volonté concernant une recherche esthétique de qualité. C’est bien dommage. En conclusion, Frozen River est une bonne découverte de par sa trame réaliste et profondément humaine, qui tend à rendre le long-métrage parfois touchant, parfois absorbant.

Š-DR- FROZEN RIVER de Courtney Hunt (2008) p2

16/07/2015 14:24 par tellurikwaves

SENS CRITIQUE

*

Critique publiée par Kelemvor le 24 avril 2014
Une affiche sobre qui manque de modestie pour un film modeste qui brille par la sobriété avec laquelle la réalisatrice et scénariste Courtney Hunt aborde son matériau.L'histoire ? Celle de Ray (Melissa Leo) se retrouvant couverte de dettes et seule pour élever ses deux mômes après la fuite de son mari, ce dernier ayant pris soin de les abandonner non sans avoir dilapidé aux jeux l'argent qui devait servir à payer leur nouvel habitat.

Partie à sa recherche, elle croisera la route de Lila (Misty Upham), jeune mère d'origine Mohawk, qui l'entraîne dans un jeu dangereux consistant à faire traverser illégalement à travers une rivière gelée du nord des États-Unis des clandestins. Une obligation qui deviendra vite une nécessité pour Ray, le couteau sous la gorge portant le nom de "saisie judiciaire" l'obligeant à prendre tous les risques.

En résulte un audacieux mélange de chronique sociale et de suspense haletant, non sans négliger le drame humain que vivent les deux mères prêtes à tout pour la chair de leur chair. Poignant et tendu, Frozen River est un premier long métrage sublime qui donne toutes ses lettres de noblesse au cinéma indépendant. Merci à Quentin Tarantino de nous l'avoir vivement recommandé.

Š-DR- FROZEN RIVER de Courtney Hunt (2008)

14/07/2015 14:44 par tellurikwaves

Frozen River

est un film américain écrit et réalisé par Courtney Hunt, sorti en 2008.

Une petite ville américaine à la frontière du Canada.Ray peut enfin offrir à sa famille la maison de ses rêves et bientôt quitter leur préfabriqué. Mais quand son mari, joueur invétéré, disparaît avec leurs économies, elle se retrouve seule avec ses deux fils, sans plus aucune ressource. Alors qu'elle essaie de retrouver la trace de son mari, elle rencontre Lila, jeune mère célibataire d'origine Mohawks, qui lui propose un moyen de gagner rapidement de l'argent : faire passer illégalement aux États-Unis des immigrés clandestins, à travers le fleuve Saint-Laurent gelé, situé dans la réserve indienne....

Fiche technique

• Titre : Frozen River
• Réalisation : Courtney Hunt
• Scénario : Courtney Hunt
• Pays d'origine :  États-Unis
• Genre : drame
• Durée : 97 minutes
• Dates de sortie :
  •  États-Unis : 18 janvier 2008 (Sundance Film Festival)
  •  États-Unis : 1^er août 2008 (sortie limitée)
  •  France : 7 janvier 2009
  •  Belgique : 15 avril 2009

Cast

• Melissa Leo : Ray Eddy
• Misty Upham : Lila Littlewolf
• Charlie McDermott : Troy J. « TJ » Eddy
• Michael O'Keefe : State Trooper Finnerty
• James Reilly : Ricky Eddy
• Mark Boone Junior : Jacques Bruno
• Dylan Carusona : Jimmy
• Jay Klaitz : Guy Versailles
• Michael Sky : Billy Three Rivers
• John Canoe : Bernie Littlewolf
• Rajesh Bose : le père pakistanais
• Gargi Shinde : la mère pakistanaise

Récompenses (on verra ça + tard sur IMDb)

• Grand prix du jury (fiction) au Festival du film de Sundance.
• Grand prix au Festival international du film de Stockholm 2008
• Nomination meilleure actrice pour Melissa Leo aux Oscars 2009.
• Meilleure actrice pour Melissa Leo au Festival de San Sebastian
• Prix Humanum 2009 de l'UPCB / UBFP - Union de la presse cinématographique belge

Š-DR- LA VIE DES AUTRES de Florian H. von Donnersmarck (2006) fin

13/07/2015 18:45 par tellurikwaves

FICE - Federazione Italiana Cinema d'Essai 2007

Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards 2008

French Syndicate of Cinema Critics 2008

German Film Awards 2006

German Film Critics Association Awards 2007

Golden Camera, Germany 2007

Golden Globes, Italy 2007

Guild of German Art House Cinemas 2006

Guldbagge Awards 2007

High Falls Film Festival 2006

Independent Spirit Awards 2007

Irish Film and Television Awards 2008

Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists 2007

Italian Online Movie Awards (IOMA) 2008

Jupiter Award 2007

Kinema Junpo Awards 2008

Locarno International Film Festival 2006

London Critics Circle Film Awards 2010

London Critics Circle Film Awards 2008

London Film Festival 2006

Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards 2006

Montréal Festival of New Cinema 2006

Munich Film Festival 2006

New Faces Awards, Germany 2006

New York Film Critics Circle Awards 2007

New York Film Critics, Online 2007

Online Film Critics Society Awards 2008

Palm Springs International Film Festival 2007

Polish Film Awards 2008

Portland International Film Festival 2007

Robert Festival 2007

Rotterdam International Film Festival 2007

SESC Film Festival, Brazil 2008

Satellite Awards 2007

Satellite Awards 2006

Seville European Film Festival 2006

St. Louis Film Critics Association, US 2006

Toronto Film Critics Association Awards 2007

Turia Awards 2007

Undine Awards, Austria 2006

Vancouver International Film Festival 2006

Warsaw International Film Festival 2006

Š-DR- LA VIE DES AUTRES de Florian H. von Donnersmarck (2006) p22

13/07/2015 18:42 par tellurikwaves

Distinctions & récompenses

Academy Awards, USA 2007

Golden Globes, USA 2007

BAFTA Awards 2008

ACCEC Awards 2008

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences of Argentina 2007

Argentinean Film Critics Association Awards 2008

Awards Circuit Community Awards 2006

Bambi Awards 2006

Bavarian Film Awards 2006

Bodil Awards 2007

British Independent Film Awards 2007

Central Ohio Film Critics Association 2008

Chlotrudis Awards 2008

Cinema Brazil Grand Prize 2008

Cinema Writers Circle Awards, Spain 2008

Copenhagen International Film Festival 2006

César Awards, France 2008

David di Donatello Awards 2007

Denver International Film Festival 2006

Dublin Film Critics Circle Awards 2007

European Film Awards 2006

Š-DR- LA VIE DES AUTRES de Florian H. von Donnersmarck (2006) p21

13/07/2015 18:29 par tellurikwaves

à droite : Le réalisateur

Trivia

Š-DR- LA VIE DES AUTRES de Florian H. von Donnersmarck (2006) p20

13/07/2015 18:13 par tellurikwaves

External reviews (liste partielle)

• rogerebert.com [Roger Ebert]
• Guardian/Observer
• ReelViews [James Berardinelli]
• BBC Persian [Omid Habibinia] (Persian)
• BBCi - Films
• BBCi - Films (DVD review)
• Sight & Sound [Geoffrey Macnab]
• Los Angeles Times [Kenneth Turan]
• eye WEEKLY [Liz Clayton]
• Rolling Stone [Peter Travers]
• Salon.com [Stephanie Zacharek]
• San Francisco Chronicle [Mick LaSalle]
• The Village Voice [J. Hoberman]
• Urban Cinefile (Australia)
• FlickFilosopher.com [MaryAnn Johanson]
• 5 seconds [Pvt. Cowboy]
• About.com [Ivana Redwine] - The Lives of Others DVD Review
• Abus de ciné [Olivier Bachelard] (French)
• allesfilm.com [Christiane Kalss] (German)
• Alligatographe (French blog)
• AmandaSage.ca [Amanda Sage]
• And God Created Cinema [Liri Chapelan]
• Andy's Film Blog [Andy Kaiser]
• AppsScraps Movies [BF Colin]
• Arbogast on Film
• Artechock [Rüdiger Suchsland] (German)
• AskMen.com - Movie Reviews
• At Filmnomenon [Eternality Tan]
• At-A-Glance Film Reviews
• Austin Chronicle [Josh Rosenblatt]
• Avrupa Sinemasi [Osman Danaci] (Turkish)
• Ben Russell, [The Movie Man]
• Best Movies of All Time [Dory]
• Big Picture Big Sound [David Kempler]
• Bina007 Movie Reviews
• Bitchin' Film Reviews [Blake Griffin]
• Bits of News [Henry Midgley]
• Boquitas pintadas [Noemí Pastor] (Spanish)
• Chicago Tribune [Geoff Berkshire]
• Cine Players [Marcos Ribeiro de Moraes] (Portuguese)
• Cine Zone [Alberto Di Felice, Pietro Signorelli] (Italian)
• Cinefacts (German)
• CineFile.biz [Alberto Cassani] (Italian)
• Cinefilos.it [Marta Pirola] (Italiano)
• Cinema Sights [James Ewing]
• Cinemagazine [Jelmer van der Lucht] (Dutch)
• Cinematical [Martha Fischer]
• Cinemattraction.com [Brandon Fibbs]
• cinemoniac.com
• cinemorto.it [Andrea Monti] (italian)
• Cinemovie.info (italian)
• CineNerdvana [Pranit Sahni]
• Cinepinion [Henry Stewart]
• Cinética [Brazil]
• Close-Up Film [Hemanth Kissoon]
• Combustible Celluloid [Jeffrey M. Anderson]
• Commentary Track [Rishi Agrawal]
• Common Sense Media [Cynthia Fuchs]
• CompuServe [Harvey Karten]
• Confessions of a Film Critic [John Maguire]
• critic.de (German)
• Critical Mass Film House [Deborah Dearth]
• Culture Wars [Laure Thomas]
• Daily Film Dose [Alan Bacchus]
• Daily Mirror [David Edwards]
• De FilmBlog [Davian Hill] (Dutch)
• Des films au poil [Jack Sullivan's blog] (French)
• Die Welt [Wolf Biermann] (German)
• DVD Clinic
• DVD Plaza (Finnish)
• DVD Town [James Plath]
• DVD Verdict - Blu-ray [Ryan Keefer]
• DVD Verdict [Rob Lineberger]
• DVD-Headquarters (German)
• DVD.Reviewer.co.uk
• DVDarkivet (Norwegian)
• DVDBeaver [Gary Tooze]
• DVDBeaver Blu-ray DVD review [Leonard Norwitz]
• E-media (pdf) (French)
• Edinburgh U Film Society [Louise Oliver]
• Edward Copeland on Film
• eFilmCritic Reviews
• epd Film [Martina Knoben] (German)
• Eric D. Snider
• eye WEEKLY [Liz Clayton]
• EyeForFilm.co.uk
• Film Intuition [Jen Johans]
• Film School Rejects [Loukas Tsouknidas]
• Film School Rejects [Rob Hunter]
• Film-Forward.com [Kent Turner]
• Filmaluation [Hemanth Kissoon]
• filmcritic.com

Š-DR- LA VIE DES AUTRES de Florian H. von Donnersmarck (2006) p18

13/07/2015 15:45 par tellurikwaves

lien vers toutes les reviews
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0405094/reviews?ref_=ttexst_ql_op_3

*

A stunning directorial debut which deserves to be seen everywhere

Author: (ahammel-1) from London
28 May 2006

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Because this movie deals with recent German history, some German comments about it get sidetracked into minute historical discussions. Forget them; Das Leben der Anderen is an outstanding movie that should be seen everywhere.

The former East Germany, a relatively small country of 16 million people, was controlled by the most sophisticated, cunning, and thorough secret police the world has ever seen, the East German Ministerium für Staatsicherheit, or "Stasi." The Stasi had about 90,000 employees -- a staggering number for such a small population -- but even more importantly, recruited a network of hundreds of thousands of "unofficial employees," who submitted secret reports on their co-workers, bosses, friends, neighbors, and even family members. Some did so voluntarily, but many were bribed or blackmailed into collaboration.

Das Leben der Anderen, ("The Life of Others") German director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's debut, builds this painful legacy into a fascinating, moving film. In its moral seriousness, artistic refinement, and depth, Das Leben der Anderen simply towers over other recent German movies, and urgently deserves a wide international release. The fulcrum of the movie (but probably not its most important character) is Georg Dreyman, an up-and-coming East German playwright in his late 30s. Played by the square-jawed Sebastian Koch, Dreyman is an (apparently) convinced socialist who's made his peace with the regime. His plays are either ideologically neutral or acceptable, and he's even received State honors.

Although he is a collaborator, he is also a Mensch. He uses his ideological "cleanliness" to intervene on behalf of dissidents such as his journalist friend Paul Hauser (Hans-Uwe Bauer). These unfortunates must contend with every humiliation a totalitarian state can invent: their apartments are bugged, friends and family are recruited to inform on them, and chances to publish or perform can be extinguished by one stray comment from a Central Committee member. The most recalcitrant can be kicked out of the country and stripped of their citizenship, like the singer songwriter Wolf Biermann.

Dreyman lives in a shabby-genteel, book-filled apartment with his girlfriend Christa-Maria Sieland (Martina Gedeck), a renowned actress who often appears in his plays. At the beginning of the movie, Dreyman himself comes under the regime's suspicion, for reasons that become clear only later. The fearful machinery of the Stasi rumbles to life: his movements are recorded, and his apartment bugged. The Stasi had bugging down to a science: a team of meticulously-trained agents swoop into your apartment when you're not there, install miniscule, undetectable listening devices in every single room -- including the bathroom -- and vanish in less than an hour, leaving no trace. Agents set up an secret electronic command post nearby, keeping a written record of every joke, argument, or lovemaking session.

The "operative process" against Dreyman is overseen by Stasi captain Gerd Wiesler, played by Ulrich Mühe, an actor from the former East who was himself once in the Stasi's cross-hairs. Captain Wiesler starts the film as a colorless, icy, tight-lipped professional who shows no mercy in fighting the "enemies of socialism": if he needs to interrogate a suspect for 10 hours without sleep to get a confession, he will do so -- and then place the seat-cover the suspect sat on in a vacuum jar in case the miscreant should later need to be tracked by bloodhounds. At night, Captain Wiesler returns to his tiny apartment in an grubby, anonymous high-rise. He settles himself among his inexpressibly drab furniture, eats a meal squeezed out of a plastic tube while watching reports about agricultural production, and then goes to bed alone.

As Captain Wiesler listens to Dreyman and his girlfriend he begins to like them, or perhaps envy the richness and depth of their lives in comparison with his own. Perhaps he also begins to wonder why a stranger should have the right to become privy to Dreyman's most intimate secrets: his occasional impotence, his girlfriend's infidelities, his artistic crises. At the same time, though, Wiesler is under pressure: a Central Committee official has made it clear to Wiesler and his toadying supervisor Lieutenant Colonel Grubitz (Ulrich Tukur), that Dreyman has to go down.

I won't discuss more plot details, as there are unexpected twists. Each of the main characters is drawn deeper into the conflict between Dreyman and the State, and each is torqued by loyalty conflicts that intensify as the pressure increases. The cast is outstanding. Sebastian Koch finds the right combination of poetic detachment and watchful sophistication for Dreyman. Martina Gedeck, as his girlfriend, has the most challenging role, since she's buffeted from all sides: by her suspicious partner, by Stasi agents trying to turn her, and by a lecherous Culture Minister. Ulrich Mühe plays the Stasi agent's transformation with reserve, only hinting at the stages in his character's secret, but decisive, change of heart.

Director von Donnersmarck, a blue-blooded West German, has re-created the gray, drained look of the former East, and the nature of Stasi intimidation, with a fidelity that has earned the praise of East Germans. His pacing is relaxed, but doesn't drag; although there are a few longueurs, most scenes unfold at just the right pace, and there are several great set-pieces. One is a bone-rattling episode in the Stasi canteen in which a young recruit is caught telling a joke about East German premier Erich Honecker. Another is the penultimate scene, a masterstroke in which Dreyman gains access to his massive Stasi file, while reading it, suddenly understands episodes of his own life which had never made sense to him before. The ending is perfectly judged; bittersweet and moving without swelling strings or teary confessions.

Das Leben der Anderen is an outstanding movie, probably a great one. If it's not picked up for international distribution, it will be a bitter loss for thousands of potential moviegoers in other countries.

*

Author: jesse3 from los angeles california
17 January 2007

Holy cow! What a terrific movie! I am a voting member of the Academy (actor's branch) so I get all the films for free. I've seen everything---60 films. This was one of the last 3 films that I saw---because I was completely unfamiliar with the title. This film slowly gripped me, but by the end, the grip was merciless. The lead actor, who should be doing The Life Story Of Peter Jennings, was wonderful. Everybody was terrific. Congratulations to the writers for their perfect structure---and to the director for his flawless storytelling---and his eliciting of top performances from his actors. How well cast it was.

But now I'm totally bewildered. Why haven't I heard anything about this film? Where was this film at the Golden Globes? I haven't even seen any reviews about it. Nothing! What's going on? I'm very active in the film business. I follow this stuff. This film (that I never heard of) took me by surprise as no other film has ever done.
Note to the IMDb: This is not a spoiler.Jesse Vint III

*

Author: hareck from Berlin, Germany
20 May 2006

I do agree with all the other positive comments, and just need to add that this is the very first movie about the former GDR I saw that is not something like a comedy. Flicks like "Sonnenallee" or "Good bye Lenin" definitely were great and funny, but unconsciously left myself (a West German) with the impression that the GDR has been a sort of "Mickey Mouse State" full of stupid but charming characters, not really to be taken seriously. After seeing "Das Leben der Anderen" this impression shifted quite a bit: there actually was suffering, killing desperation and a terribly claustrophobic atmosphere behind that wall. This might well be the most realistic depiction of the dark side of the former East Germany. Thanks to the Producers, actors and director for making this movie. 10 out of 10.

*

Author: anastasia_smile from Germany
24 March 2006

East Berlin, November 1984. Five years before its downfall the GDR seeks to maintain its power with the help of a merciless system of control and observation. When Oberstleutnant Anton Grubitz puts loyal Stasi-Hauptmann Gerd Wiesler on to the famous writer Georg Dreymann and his girlfriend Christa Maria Sieland who is a famous actress herself, he expects career advancement for himself. For most important politicians are responsible for this "operative act".

What Wiesler did not expect: the intimate view on the world of the ones he's observing changes the snitch as well. Looking at "the life of the others" makes him aware of the beggarliness in his own life and enables access to a so far unknown world of love, free thinking and speaking he is hardly able to elude. But the system can't be stopped anymore and a dangerous game, which destroys the love of Christa Maria Sieland and Georg Dreymann and Wieslers present existence begins.Until the fall of the wall each of them has paid a big price. After that a whole new world begins.

My personal opinion - though it doesn't count that much - is that this one a an absolute Must See. I can hardly remember such an intelligent and moving German movie especially not including the whole topic of GDR history and the dealing with it. I think this is the first German movie which shows this system as it used to be (which has been confirmed by several contemporary witnesses) and not turns it and its people into comedy though there have been several good ones, of course.

*

Author: Brigid O Sullivan (wisewebwoman) from Toronto, Canada
8 March 2007

I wonder why there has been so little written and publicized about this movie. This should be seen in every country and its merits trumpeted from the skies.

It starts off slowly and the locale is the former East Germany, inhabited by 16 million people who are being spied upon relentlessly by their secret police. In this very real world of the Berlin Wall, there are many Stasi, 90,000, overseeing the populace, aided and abetted by hundreds of thousands of informants. Many of these snitches were blackmailed or other pressures exerted (threats to children and loved ones) and a few obliged voluntarily.

What is truly amazing is that this is Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's directorial debut, and he maintains a masterful hand throughout and keeps the story and the tension rolling from the first scene of interrogation which is filmed back and forth between a tape educating new Stasi as to interview techniques and to the actual cell itself where it was recorded.The movie circles around three main characters and there is a wider circle of the powerful who pull the puppet strings for a variety of reasons which become clear as the movie unfolds.

First is Georg Dreyman, a playwright on the verge of celebrating his 40th birthday. Sebastian Koch, a tall,handsome actor dressed in writerly rumple, shares an apartment with his actress girlfriend, Christa-Maria Sieland (Martina Gedeck), and exists within the strictures of the state-sponsored theatre. He is a decent man, and tries to win support for his blacklisted friends.

For reasons that become quite clear, Dreyman falls under suspicion and the whole sophisticated Stasi spying system comes into play in the era of 1984. His whole apartment is bugged and every sound is monitored.

The man in charge of all this is Captain Gerd Wiesler,(Ulrich Mühe). Ulrich's performance is nothing short of stunning. He starts as an almost robotic presence, dressed in gray, he almost disappears into every scene he's in. But one detects a clear intelligence in his bright eyes, the only part of him that's alive. Captain Wiesler lives in a non-descript arborited apartment, much like himself. He squeezes his food onto a plate from a tube.

But the captain starts to awaken slowly as he listens surreptitiously on the state of the art equipment secreted in the attic of Dreyman's building. He starts to fall in love with the couple and then pressure from above is brought to bear on him to dig for the dirt in Dreyman's life.And he is in a dilemma now, as he is drawn further and further into the life of Dreman and his girlfriend.

I won't throw spoilers down. Suffice to say is that the story is enthralling right down to the very last frame. The acting is superb, the direction impeccable and the world of East Germany meticulously drawn with the viewer respected enough to find his or her own emotional path through the plot.The ending is truly one of a kind. So right and true that I was left nodding, it was the only one possible.

A must see, I will sing the praises of this film to all I know. 10 out of 10 from me. Right up there in my top 50 of all time. I find it so disappointing that these movies don't get wider release AND compete for an Oscar in the best picture of the year and not just for best foreign film. Now there's a heretical thought!

*

Author: rkj-3 from Denmark
19 October 2006

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Germany has produced some very good movies recently ... but this one is in a class of its own. The main power of a quality movie, for me, has always been two things, a good story and mood - and this film has both. The story keeps you interested through all 139 minutes. You actually feel yourself transported to the 1980s of the former German republic. They have carefully chosen locations that looks east-germanish ... lots of "Trabant" cars on the streets :-) and the general grayish mood is very well recreated. The ordinary peoples fear of the Stasi is realistically portrayed. And i just love the twist in the story in the last 20 minutes or so. A brilliant movie that anyone even remotely interested in non-mainstream movies should see.

*

Author: boblovinger from United States
11 September 2006

I saw this film in its North American premiere in a packed theater at the Toronto Int'l Film Festival this past week and was pleased to be part of a standing ovation at the end for the director and star, who were both on hand.

"The Lives of Others," set in East Germany not long before the fall of the Berlin Wall, tells the moving story of a police investigator forced to confront himself and the work he does. In a society poisoned by secrecy, fear and the abuse of power, a number of the movie's characters -- artists, actors, writers -- must look deep inside and decide what they are made of; none more so than the investigator.This is a movie that took me to a place and time that felt very authentic, for a tale that was very satisfying.

Ulrich Muhe, who plays the investigator, is mesmerizing, and the young director is to be applauded for this, his first full-length film. Some have compared "The Lives of Others" to Coppola's "The Conversation" but the two have completely different story arcs and are only superficially similar.Both my companion and I felt this was our favorite of the six films we had a chance to see at the festival.

*

Author: jassas
16 April 2006

having had the joy - while not living in the old gdr itself - to have some "accidental" run ins with the good old stasi then, i found it awkward that a German director from the "west" would have the guts to take on the subject of this "ministry of greyness".

writer/director florian henkell von donnersmarck (nice name for a teutonic director, me thinks, very fancy - makes you bang your heels) not only survived this bout of pretension which could have let him drowned in a swamp of reproaches and allegations about executing the "justice of the winners", but he transformed the tale into a story that can and will be understood anywhere in the world: a tale about power, treason and the almost anarchistic potency of emotions.

while at the same time not falling into the trap of moralizing with a waving finger but showing us "the system" as an bureaucratic nightmare powered by - eventually - once even good intentioned human robots of socialist self-righteousness who actually destroy all real positive socialist impulses in the ones they plague, this film is - even if one disagrees with it's premises - probably the most important political drama coming out of Germany for years.

*

This was my favorite film at Telluride. Everyone with whom I talked had the same feeling. It generated the most "buzz." I hope it has a wide audience in the US. The acting by those who experienced the Stasi was moving and believable. Ulrich Muhe as the Stasi Officer was brilliant. Most of us cried during the final scene. Florian Henckel-Donnersmarck's direction with its twists and turns kept the audience glued to the screen. Because of the film's popularity, it was scheduled again for another showing at the festival. Both Muhe and Henckel-Donnersmarck were present and were stopped where ever they went during the festival. I recommend this film and gave it a 10.

*

Author: N Bauman from Minneapolis
16 October 2007

This film utterly blew me away. Full disclosure: I'm a German born (Munich born) German-American who left Germany in 1986, before the wall came down. I cannot describe the feeling I felt as the last few words were spoken on the screen. I could not look at the subtitles ( a habit of speaking two languages ) because my eyes were so full of tears. I cannot tell you how I was so sorry I did not experience the wall coming down. This film healed a wound that may have been left by the nightmare years of 1938-1945, my own great uncle being a Nazi war criminal, convicted in Nuremberg in 1946. Yes, we are mensch too. We have the potential for greatness (of character) in spite of our history. Thank you Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, for giving me back half of my lost soul in this single "es ist für mich". I am reminded again that the difference between ourselves and beasts is that we have a choice.

Š-DR- LA VIE DES AUTRES de Florian H. von Donnersmarck (2006) p17

13/07/2015 15:39 par tellurikwaves

Sites externes (photos)

Photographs

• Ace Photos - photo gallery
• AEDT.de -- Photos from the Premiere in Berlin
• cineImage - Swiss movie press archive
• CineMagia.ro - Image Gallery
• Confraria de Cinema - Photo Gallery
• De FilmBlog - HQ Pictures
• elFilm.com - Image Gallery
• Film.Com.Tr - Synopsis and Pictures (Turkish)
• Filmhai - stills
• Filmreporter.de - Image Gallery (German)
• MovieboX.se - Photo Gallery
• moviepilot.de - Photos
• MovieQuiz - Image Gallery
• MovieZine.se - Image Gallery
• OutNow! Image Gallery
• Trailerdownload.net - Image Gallery
• Ultimate Images - Image Gallery
• Video.olympus.ru - Pictures
• Virtual History
• Carteles de cine
• Clevver - Movie Poster
• elFilm.com - Posters
• filmposter-archiv.de - German movie poster
• MoviePosterDB.com
• MoviePostr.com - Poster
• Pimpin' Poster Palace - All related posters
• poster
• Russian Poster
• Theatrical Movie Poster
• Trailerdownload.net - Poster
• Ultimate Posters - Posters

Š-DR- LA VIE DES AUTRES de Florian H. von Donnersmarck (2006) p16

13/07/2015 12:06 par tellurikwaves

Sites externes (liste partielle)

Official Sites

• Official site [United States]

Miscellaneous Sites

• AceShowbiz.com
• Actors Compendium
• AllStars
• Bio.nu (Swedish)
• Boston Globe [Colin Nickerson]
• Box Office Mojo
• CelebrityWonder.com - Movie reviews, trailers, clips and stills
• Celluloid Dreams (German)
• Cine.gr (Greek)
• Cinefacts (German)
• Cinefacts (German)
• Cinefilo (Spanish)
• CineMagia.ro Info - (Romanian)
• Cinematic Intelligence Agency
• Clevver - Movie Info, Trailers, Posters, Photos
• Confraria de Cinema (Portuguese)
• El Séptimo Arte (Spanish)
• El Séptimo Arte (Spanish)
• Film.Com.Tr - Synopsis and Pictures
• Filmhai - info (German)
• Filmhai - Photo Gallery
• filmz.de - Info, Links, Comments (German)
• Futuremovies.co.uk - Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck Interview
• Hollywood Stock Exchange
• Hoycinema (Spanish)
• IMCDb.org: cars, bikes, trucks and other vehicles seen in this production
• Indiemoviez (Spanish)
• Kulthit.de - Kritik (German)
• LaButaca.net (Spanish)
• Movie 2 Movie preview [Jelmer van der Lucht] (Dutch)
• Movie2DVD Encyclopedia of Film and Cinema
• MovieMaze.de (German)
• moviepilot.de (German)