Countries & Movies: Germany

 The best film in German cinema, according to FilmGourmand, is "Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others)" directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck. And for Donnersmark, it was a debut feature film. The film was released on the screens of Berlin cinemas on March 15, 2006.

The film triumphantly went through almost all the film festivals in Europe, Asia and both Americas, collecting a total of 77 film awards. We will name only the most prestigious and significant of them. 2006: Award of the European Film Academy as the best European film, 7 awards of the German Film Academy, including as an Outstanding film and for Best Director. 2007: Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, Danish Bodil Prize for Best Non-American Film, Italian David di Donatello Award for Best European Film. 2008: British BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Language Film, French Cesar Award for Best Foreign Film. And here's the curious thing: the selection panels of the Berlin and Cannes film festivals refused to include this film in their programs. I wonder why?

Recently, in one of the programs on Russian television, comparative data were presented on the number of full-time and freelance agents per 1000 population from the special services of Nazi Germany (Gestapo), the USSR (NKVD / KGB) and the GDR (Stasi). In order not to mislead anyone, I will not give exact numbers - I did not remember. But I absolutely remembered that the Stasi this indicator exceeded the total indicator of the Gestapo and the NKVD / KGB. And, let's say, the “professionalism” of the Stasi employees in such matters as wiretapping, torture, including psychological, provocation and other nastiness in relation to those who were designated to be enemies of the state, far exceeded the similar “competencies” of both the Gestapo and NKVD. That is why, along with the vast majority of enthusiastic reviews of film critics, there are also sharply negative ones. Moreover, the negative is mainly due to disbelief in the possibility of humanity in people associated with the Stasi, and, in common, with the special services. 

An interesting assumption about the reasons for the success of the film and, at the same time, about the reasons for the decision of the selection committee of the Berlin Film Festival is contained in the review of one of the most respected Russian film critics Andrei Plakhov. “Only among veterans of the former GDR could skepticism be heard about this fabulous film. For the new generation of viewers, the horrors of totalitarianism went into the realm of myths and parables, melodramas and thrillers. This was well felt by the director with the aristocratic surname Florian Henkel von Donnersmark, who was born in Cologne, who didn’t live in the GDR, but studied in Oxford, Munich and St. Petersburg .... In the wake of the latest espionage scandals, the Stasi’s history, it would seem, should remain a storehouse of more and more revelations. This is how the standard craftsman thinks, while the current trend is found on the opposite road, where instead of a temple there is a monument to a re-forged Chekist." 

The financial performance of the movie is also more than impressive. With a budget of $ 2 million, it has raised more than $ 77 million worldwide! These 77 millions include $ 300 thousand raised by the movie in Russia and other CIS countries. I will not miss the opportunity to compare: “Pledge This!”, released in 2006, raised only in Russia (without the CIS) $ 1.5 million (and in the rest of the world - another $ 200 thousand). That is, in Russia, "Pledge This!", which rating, either according to IMDB, or according to Kinopoisk, does not exceed 1.8, attracted 5 times more viewers than a film recognized as a masterpiece around the world. How can this be explained: by the special addiction of Russian moviegoers to shit? Or by the policy of Russian film distributors who were too much scared to release a movie about the atrocities of the Stasi and its party bosses? Everybody knows who had a Stasi employee’s ID in his pocket. Moreover, the film was released on the screens of Russian cinemas in July 2007, when it was already known about most of the awards received by the film. And in passing, I note: the movie had more than a modest budget due to the fact that all the actors involved in it agreed to work on the film for only 20% of their usual professional rates.

I cannot miss the opportunity to quote Roger Ebert. In his review of the film, written in 2007, he writes that despite the fact that the film describes the events of 1984, “the movie is relevant today, as our government ignores habeas corpus, practices secret torture, and asks for the right to wiretap and eavesdrop on its citizens." Note that this film critic drew attention to these "pranks" of the American government long before Snowden. And else from his review of the film: "The Lives of Others" is a powerful but quiet film, constructed of hidden thoughts and secret desires. .... It shows how the Wall (Berlin - FG) finally fell, not with a bang, but because of whispers. " And the authorities still believe in the reliability of the Walls.

A moviegoer around the world praised the film "Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others)". 80% of IMDB and Kinopoisk users gave the film ratings from 8 to 10. Based on this and other indicators of the film’s success, its rating according to the version of FilmGourmand was 11,280, which made it a high 3rd place in the Golden Thousand.