Leben der Anderen

(http://www.thatfilmguy.net)

Rating:

80%

Format:

DVD

Year:

2006

Predominant Genre:

Thriller

Plot:

Spying on the enemies of Socialism brings out paranoia and the bitter realisation that such politically-correct vindictiveness creates a lack of personal fulfilment.

Themes:

Personal change | Self-expression | Compassion | Totalitarianism | Political Correctness | Ethical Politics

Similar Titles:

Best Performances:

Lives of Others

Fascinating look at the extreme measures Whites take to protect their political theories from criticism. By labelling the critic as an enemy of the people, Whites hope to conceal the fact that the labellers are the real enemies.

The desire for anything that makes Whites look good to be true is so strong in White culture that Whites will even destroy their own private lives to ensure their politics is the only politics. Whites completely politicising their own private lives in this way, makes Communism and Capitalism both as completely intolerant of subversives as each. The former is more honest because legalised; the latter merely feigning tolerance while still condemning anyone who criticises Whites. The need to control the lives of those others who do not benefit from either both political system becomes solace for having renounced a personal life for politics. Indeed, marrying ones job is proof of loving politics more than life itself. As with political systems like White supremacy, adherence to Communist tenets is absolute or one is economically blacklisted - like an ex-convict with no criminal record.

One senses throughout that we are watching the Faust legend from the point of view of the devil. Buying souls requires the absence of this very thing on lucifer’s part; hence, his jealousy that many choose not to renounce theirs and thus retain their joy in living. As with Western Whites, these Eastern ones are so frustrated by having to keep up appearances that abuse becomes widespread - as in all White cultures; eg, alcoholism, fornication, drug-addiction, etc. Politics infects everything so that personal relationships are stillborn; State security claiming to benefit the happiness of Socialists merely inducing a weary resignation to systemic stagnation. A power-for-its-own-sake system simply increases the suicides of those citizens who see no reason to go on living in such a society.

The pettiness of officialdom and bureaucracy is well shown. Denouncing others for subversive activities is more to do with career-advancement than protecting Socialism from its enemies. It also serves the paranoiac purpose of imputing sedition to the body language of those one does not like personally. The physical and psychological drabness of life in a culture where saying what you think can get you locked up is also well to the fore.

Hard to see why Whites create such political systems when they never work in the long run since, like Apartheid, they require more expenditure of effort than any possible benefit they could provide. A culture discouraging individual initiative can only fail because all that is then left is benefiting from the destruction of others.

Despite the realistic storytelling style and the clear presentation of facts, the film’s only real failing is in not exploring the reasons for the existence of such White totalitarianism - despite repeated White claims of their political systems’ superiority. This negatively affects the characterisations, by gioving the actors less to express, despite the best efforts of the impressively-talented performers showcased here.

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Copyright © 2014 Frank TALKER. Permission granted to reproduce and distribute it in any format; provided that mention of the author’s Weblog (http://franktalker5.blogspot.com) is included: E-mail notification requested. All other rights reserved.