Foreign Film Festival - Screening of The Lives of Others (Von Donnersmarck, Germany 2006)
Marple and Cheadle College, 7.30pm
Set on the cusp of the Cold War’s thaw-out, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s debut feature revisits an East Germany whose surveillance system would make the NSA emerald green with envy. These were the glory days of the Stasi, the German Democratic Republic’s secret police force, composed of men like Captain Wiesler (Mühe)—dangerously efficient, emotionally detached and able to spot subversives before they’ve uttered a single word. Assigned to keep tabs on a popular playwright (Koch), the officer wiretaps the author’s apartment. The more Wiesler hears, however, the more the eavesdropper develops an empathy for both his prey and the writer’s actor girlfriend (Gedeck). Like his cinematic ancestor, The Conversation’s Harry Caul, this pathological professional is doomed to get personally involved, and that’s when the Scheisse hits the fan.
Tickets £3: College Reception on 0161 484 6600.
Contact: Judith P Roberts, Head of Performing Arts, on 0161 484 6726.
