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Germany's "The Lives of Others" Wins Foreign-Language Oscar

Joy: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s drama set in communist East Germany won for best foreign-language film.
©Deutschland Magazin

Director von Donnersmarck holding the Oscar trophy

Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck was elated when on Sunday night Clive Owen and Cate Blanchett announced “…and the Oscar goes to: Germany.” It is a tremendous success for the film’s 33-year-old writer-director, whose first feature film took him straight to the Oscars. The film, which has been hugely successful in Germany as well, winning seven German Film Awards (Lolas) and 3 European Film Awards, has received enthusiastic reviews since it came to US theaters earlier this month.

"I thank Germany and Bavaria for making this film possible," said an emotional von Donnersmarck after making his way to the podium.

Von Donnersmarck, Ambassador Scharioth and his wife at a pre-Oscar party

Hollywood: Ambassador Scharioth and his wife spent time with director von Donnersmarck in Los Angeles.
©Karin Memmert

"I was overjoyed when the announcement came and I saw Florian jump out of his seat," said Ambassador Klaus Scharioth, who attended the ceremony in the Kodak Theater and spent time with the German director there. "It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience to be at the Academy Awards and witness such a major event in the film industry, in Hollywood, but also to be there in person when a German film won the Oscar was very satisfying. He did a remarkable job of telling an intricate, compelling story and conveying an atmosphere full of tension."

Hollywood: Ambassador Scharioth and director von Donnersmarck in Los Angeles.
©Volker Corell

"Lives" is the third German film to win the foreign-language film Oscar. "Nowhere in Africa" took home the 2002 Oscar, and "The Tin Drum" won for 1979.

Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed congratulations for the filmmaker and for the actors. The film was an outstanding directorial debut that moved audiences and won over Hollywood with its quality, Merkel said through a spokesman. In a year with especially strong competition, it stood out, even as a "low-budget" film.

Gripping Thriller

Set in 1984, “The Lives of Others” takes place in the Eastern part of a then divided Germany. Five years before its downfall, the East German government is ensuring its claim to power with a ruthless system of control and surveillance. Party-loyalist Captain Gerd Wiesler (Ulrich Muehe) hopes the assignment of collecting evidence against the playwright Georg Dreyman (Sebastian Koch) and his girlfriend, celebrated actress Christa-Maria Sieland (Martina Gedeck), will boost his career. After all, the “operation” is backed by the highest political circles.

Cold War: "Lives" is set in East Berlin in November 1984.

What Wiesler doesn’t anticipate, however, is that immersing himself in his targets' world will also change the surveillance agent. The immersion in “The Lives of Others” – in love, literature, free thinking and speech – makes Wiesler acutely aware of the meagerness of his own existence and opens to him a completely new way of life, which he has ever more trouble resisting. But the system, once started, cannot be stopped. A dangerous game has begun. An intensely gripping thriller and moving love story, "Lives" features some of Germany’s most celebrated actors.

February 26, 2007

Links

Academy Award Nomination for “The Lives of Others”
(January 24, 2007)