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Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck creates a very intimate, human story about the horrors of Communism and all forms of totalitarianism. An up-and-coming officer in the East German secret police (Ulrich Mühe) receives a plum assignment: Gather dirt on a respected playwright with impeccable party credentials (Sebastian Koch). The playwright’s sin? He’s seriously involved with a beautiful actress (Martina Gedeck) whom a top party official wants for himself. Slowly, bit by bit, the secret policeman comes to identify with his prey and lose faith in the Socialist ideal. The Lives of Others works on many levels. It’s an indictment of an oppressive government that called itself humane. It’s a study of an alienated human being waking up to the horror of his job (at times, it reminded me of The Conversation). It’s a portrait of a society that, thank goodness, no longer exists. And it’s an excellent and suspenseful thriller.