It has been a long time since a movie has really “wowed” me but today was the end to that trend. I saw The Lives of Others which is probably one of the most brilliant movies I’ve seen. It won the Academy award for best foreign language film and a slew of other film festival awards. The trailer never did much for me and I was actually hesitant to see the movie because of it but don’t be misled.

The movie is about a writer during the the early 80′s in East Germany trying to work within the Socialist system. Like most Artists of the time he is suspected of leaning toward western thought and is thus put under surveillance. A Stasi agent is assigned to the case and he begins to get involved in the characters lives he’s listening in on. The plot keeps you invested in the characters but doesn’t throw you for a complete curve at any time.

What and why this movie is so beautiful is that it is a love story in a strange way between people and Art and each other. If you have ever been truly invested in Art and understand how important it is to an artist to create then this movie is a ballad to you. The strange relationship between Art and people is so well developed and that line between creating and making those you love happy is touched upon in the most horrid way that those of us in a free society would gasp to even fathom such circumstances. Most wouldn’t understand the incredible difficulty in choosing Art over the lives of people but this movie tries to get that across because to some people their life is Art.

I watched this movie and felt that shame for not creating lately, as if I were staring at a Basquiat painting or had read a Borges Poem. So I wept and found it a little difficult to get out of the chair when the credits began to roll.

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