Review of The Lives of Others (2006) by Pavandeep S — 28 Feb 2014

Conventional, absolutely, but how many times can a director take convention and make it heart-wrenching and delicate at the same time and make a fantastic character study of a subject matter so outstanding? Rare is that gift and in here we see it and what comes out is really a beautiful movie that is so compelling and very enjoyable and disturbing at the same time by using well-shot angles and fine performances.

Second time: Seeing it again, I feel that this film has some really compelling scenes but it breaks off too many times. I was impressed by the concept but not the result, it felt very unbelievable. It drives too hard without basis and the whole thing is as much agitprop as the kind it works against. The romance itself was tough to fathom in regards to the characters change of heart.