*Sonata for a Good Man*

I think it was totally legitimate that the winner of the 2006 Academy Award for best foreign film was The Lives of Others; a German film written and directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck. If you would have asked me what this movie was about right after I watched it I couldn’t have told you. It initially was quite confusing reading English subtitles while trying to figure who’s who and what was going on. After some contemplation, discussion with classmates and reading reviews of the film I had a much better grasp of it.

The movie takes place in a 1984 East Germany when the Stasi were spying on everybody. Wiesler was a Stasi operative who thought there was something fishy about the artist Georg Dreyman. Wiesler bugged Dreyman’s apartment and began to listen to his every move. Dreyman shares his apartment with his girlfriend Christa Maria Sieland who was an actress. The act of suicide committed by Dreyman’s good friend caused him to want to write about the horrific suicide rate of the hopeless people in East Germany. This begins to be quite the conspiracy, especially with Wiesler listening in. However, constantly listening to the artist was giving Wiesler his first taste of art. When playing The Sonata for a Good Man on piano, Dreyman questions how anybody who really hears this music can be truly bad. This is very true for Wiesler. Listening to Dreyman and Christa’s life had exposed him to art, passion and true love. Because of this, Wiesler begins to leave incriminating things out of his official reports.

I really liked the character of Wiesler, especially how he changed even though it was said at the beginning of the film that people do not ever change. The movie had amazing themes of love, passion and fighting for what you believe in while showing us what it was like in that day and age. It really makes me appreciate how blessed I am and what an easy life I have. I greatly enjoyed The Lives of Others.

This is a clip of a really good part of the film:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4r9W-FjyYss