Films I Saw Recently, Volume One

Das Leben der Anderen

The Lives of Others is a 2006 German Language film covering the experiences of people living in the GDR (or, as we know it here in the West, East Germany) in 1984. The film specifically follows the path of State Security worker Hauptmann Gerd Wiesler (hereafter HGW) as he listens to the bugged home of playright Georg Dreyman, who State Security (or "the Stasi) believe is a Western sympathiser. Over the course of the story we witness a chilling series of events as HGW begins to sympathise with Dreyman's ideas as the Stasi grow ever more suspicious.

     The film's sense of tension is masterfully done, steeped in irony for all major characters as HGW goes out of his way to protect Dreyman and his lover, the actress Christa-Maria Sieland, who HGW discovers is being regularly raped by the leader of the Party, Honeker. The characters, having been extrapolated from real stories, are three-dimensional and believable, as are the props, which create a brilliant atmosphere from the beginning.

     Regardless of one's interest in the German Language, the film's moving portrayl of humanity makes it great to watch. While in reality no member of the Stasi ever regretted their actions, this films' otherwise realistic atmosphere and strict adherance to Rousseauism can really warm the heart, despite the bittersweet taste of its historical echo.

Das Leben der Anderen, 2006, Deutch, 137 mins, Directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, Certificate 15.

Scott Pilgrim vs The World

On the other side of the realism battle, this quirky 2010 comedy comes from director Edgar Wright, known for ventures with Simon Pegg like Sean of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. Here he's adapting a comic book series by Bryan Lee O'Malley. A world where video game physics apply, Scott (Juno's Michael Cera), a selfish and somewhat bumbling band member is forced to come to terms with his life when he falls in love with Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). In true video-game style, it turns out that her exes have formed a "league", headed by the mysterious "Gideon," to control her love life and thus destroy Scott Pilgrim.

     What follows is an exciting 90 minutes of straight-up video-game inspired action inpregnated with nerdy references and complex comical love triangles the likes of which not even Coronation Street has ever seen. This film is modern, and carries the weight of 40 years of nerd history without flinching. The actors, all young, get the chance to surge into the market, and there isn't one dud performance in the piece. 

    Perhaps the best part of SCVTW is its refusal to admit reality; its laws and idiosyncrasies are tuned firmly to pop culture. This is what some people wish the world was like; a place where vegans gain super powers, where enemies explode into coins upon death. This film is nerdy escapism at its very, very best. 

Scott Pilgrim Vs The World, 2010, English, 112 mins, Directed by Edgar Wright, Certificate 12.

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