Best Foreign Film ----- 2030

A wonderful film is about to be released on DVD. I saw this film a few months ago in the theater and with it's re-release, I am reminded just how important a film this is. The movie is called "The Lives of Others". It is set in East Germany, in the year 1984 and the story in essence, is about government control and its no holds barred attempt to totally dominate the lives of it's citizens, through the use of the media, "official" intimidation, surveillance, "secret" inquiries and covert (and overt) "actions".

The movie is in German and since I do not speak German, I had to rely on the subtitles for the dialogue. I actually love movies with sub-titles. Perhaps that is why the ever present "crawlers" running under most news programs today does not annoy me as much as other people. These movies are unique to me because I actually find that I get much more out of the acting: The pain in his facial expressions, the way she turns in the doorway, their posture when they learn the "news" of one development or the other. These explicit communications of what "is" rather than what is "explained"- makes the experience so intimate for me.

This is the kind of film that keeps your attention for days afterward. The layers upon layers of message and movement continue to be revealed, long after the reels have run out. This movie transported me to the cold war era. The images and sounds were stark and haunting: grey tones, cigarette smoke, the European police "sirens". It's structure was vague; a "pretend" society where the rules are always present but rarely mentioned. And it's characters were "determined" yet confused. They seemed to me like dancers on a dingy marionette stage who are not quite aware of the strings attached to their bodies. It is a startlingly accurate portrayal of a truly frightening prescription for existence. A way of life that demands pretense and denies "freedom".

As the movie concluded and the credits rolled, I retreated to my own thoughts. Quite abruptly a woman rose in front of me and spoke, rather loudly. She made one awkwardly cliche' comment - "I am so glad I live in America". Then she smiled and walked out of the theater. For months now, her simple affirmation, as well as the complexities and nuance of the film have been bouncing around in my head.

This film told the story of the dreary existence in Soviet controlled East Germany. During that time we in the USA, more precisely my parent's generation, seemed to be aware of what was happening in the GDR, and I suspect we also could not understand why the people of the East Germany just tolerated it. We scratched our heads and wondered " just when will the people march?" Then we saw the tanks roll in and watched the armed soldiers at the "wall" . Then we held our heads and wondered "just when does it become too late to stop it. "

These people were wiretapped and they were blacklisted. Their careers were threatened by politicians. Women were exploited and forced to "cozy up" to the "bosses". People were threatened with prison without trial and resistors of any type were marginalized, often via the state run media. And others... Well, some others just disappeared.

I am certain that we are all aware of the irony of a movie like this coming out at this point in time, in this country. So I will not "over emphasize".... But I do hope, with more than a dash of skepticism in my mind, that our current society is not the subject of a "docudrama", to be released somewhere in the not too distant future... I hope that the script for the best foreign film of 2030 is not being drafted today... "I Am So Glad I Live In America"...

Be lucky!