The Lives of Others: (Das Leben der Anderen)

(Paperback)

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This study offers a fresh approach to the remarkable German film The Lives of Others (2006), known for its compelling representation of a Stasi surveillance officer and the moral and ethical turmoil that results when he begins spying on a playwright and his actress lover. Annie Ring analyses the film's cinematography, mise-en-scne and editing, tracing connections with Hollywood movies such as Casablanca and Hitchcocks Torn Curtain in the film's portrayal of an individual rebelling against a brutal dehumanising regime. Drawing on archival sources, including primary research from the Stasi files themselves, as well as Enlightenment philosophies of art and Brechts theories on theatre dating from his GDR years, she explores the film's strong but much-disputed claims to historical authenticity. She examines the way the film tracks the world-changing political shift that took place at the end of the Cold War away from the collective dreams of socialism and towards the dreams of the private individual, arguing that this is what makes it at once widely appealing and fascinatingly problematic. In doing so, she highlights why The Lives of Others is a crucial film for thinking at the horizon between film and recent world history.

Reviews

A considered study of the 2006 Oscar-winner. -- James Mottram * Total Film *
What makes a classic film Annie Ring offers intriguing answers to this question in an accessible and engaging volume with breath-taking range and intriguing depth. From surveillance to melodrama and from Brecht to Hitchcock, she covers the myriad facets of a modern-day classic, The Lives of Others. -- Barbara Mennel, University of Florida, USA
This original and fascinating analysis makes a compelling case for including The Lives of Others in the canon of contemporary classic cinema. Anyone who has watched von Donnersmarcks Stasi melodrama will profit from reading Annie Rings well-researched and accessible book. -- Daniela Berghahn, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK

Author Bio

Annie Ring is Associate Professor of German and comparative film, literature and cultural theory at UCL, UK. Her research focuses on film, surveillance, technology and the politics of subjectivity. She is author of After the Stasi (Bloomsbury Academic, 2015). She is co-editor of Architecture and Control (2018), Uncertain Archives: Critical Keywords for Big Data (2021) and has contributed to The German Cinema Book (British Film Institute, 2020).