The Lives of Others

[kid cue]

this was really great.

SPOILERS SPOILERS









i disagree 100% that the film should've ended at the mailroom -- too much of a tragic archetype, or something. the former govt official's redemption at the end was crucial for the anti-totalitarian, pro-art (!) argument, it really held all the prior drama together and presented us with a sort of motivation for living. ending at the mailroom would've not only been too neat and easy, but would've rendered the film as more of a bleak formal exercise. IMO.

also, another REALLY subtle tragic point i dug was in the final interrogation sequence -- Wiesler "the audience" was trying hard to tell CMS that he was still on the "good" side, but once she killed herself, realized that she hadn't caught the hint after all. OR, she decided that after he'd reminded her of that moral exchange in the bar, that she couldn't go on living with such broken integrity, that she'd failed as an artist (!!). either way, awesome.