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The Lives of Others (German: Das Leben der Anderen) is a 2006 German drama film, marking the feature film debut of writer and director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck. The film involves the monitoring of the cultural scene of East Berlin by agents of the Stasi, the GDR's secret police. It stars Ulrich Mühe as Stasi Captain Gerd Wiesler, Ulrich Tukur as his chief Anton Grubitz, Sebastian Koch as the playwright Georg Dreyman, and Martina Gedeck as Dreyman's lover, a prominent actress named Christa-Maria Sieland.

The film was released in Germany on March 23, 2006. At the same time, the screenplay was published by Suhrkamp Verlag. Henckel von Donnersmarck and Ulrich Mühe were successfully sued for libel for an interview in which Mühe asserted that his former wife informed on him while they were East German citizens through the six years of their marriage.In the film's publicity material, Henckel von Donnersmarck says that Mühe's former wife denied the claims, although 254 pages' worth of government records detailed her activities.The film succeeded in Germany despite a widespread contemporary reluctance in the country, particularly in its films,to confront the totalitarian excesses of the East German state.

With The Lives of Others, Henckel von Donnersmarck won the 2007 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. The film had earlier won seven Deutscher Filmpreis awards – including best film, best director, best screenplay, best actor, and best supporting actor – after having set a new record with 11 nominations. It was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 64th Golden Globe Awards.

In the East Germany (DDR) of 1984, Stasi Hauptmann Gerd Wiesler interrogates a prisoner suspected of helping a friend defect to the West. The interrogation is intercut with Wiesler using the recording to instruct a class on methods of interrogation. He points out several ways the Stasi can extract information from suspects being interrogated, by denying them sleep and by repeatedly asking the same questions. Canned answers, he states, are a sure sign of guilt.

Wiesler's superior, Lt. Colonel Grubitz, assigns him to spy on playwright Georg Dreyman, who is suspected of pro-Western sympathies. Stasi agents secretly burgle Dreyman's flat, install small microphones and then summarise all statements in reports typed in the attic above. When he realizes that a neighbor had observed them, Wiesler pays the woman a visit and terrrorises her into staying silent.



To his disgust, Wiesler soon learns the real reason behind the Stasi's surveillance of Dreyman. A Central Committee member named Bruno Hempf covets Dreyman's live-in girlfriend, actress Christa-Maria Sieland. Dreyman's imprisonment will rid Hempf of a rival. Wiesler, an idealistic believer in the socialist regime, is horrified by the abuse of power this represents.

Meanwhile, Christa-Maria discreetly engages in a sexual affair with Minister Hempf. Although she feels violated by each encounter with the Minister, she fears the consequences of rejecting a man who can easily destroy her life and career. She also relies on Hempf to supply her with prescription drugs she is addicted to. Due to Captain Wiesler's subtle intervention, Dreyman witnesses the Minister's car dropping off Christa-Maria. A week later, he implores her to end the affair. However, Christa-Maria argues that they are both in bed with the State in order to be allowed to continue their artistic careers. Ignoring Dreymann's pleas, Christa-Maria leaves to meet with Hempf.

Later, at a local watering hole, Wiesler approaches her and, posing as a fan, advises her that her talent is so great that she does not need Hempf. Deeply touched, Christa-Maria informs Wiesler that he is "a good man" and departs. Later, Wiesler is gladdened to learn from a report that Christa-Maria immediately returned to Dreyman, promising never to see Hempf again.

Although a loyal and believing communist, Dreymann dislikes the way his blacklisted colleagues are treated by the State. Although he approaches Hempf about one such friend, stage director Albert Jerska, the Minister coldly refuses to intervene. Later, at Dreyman's birthday party, Jerska gives Dreyman the sheet music to a piece titled "Sonata for a Good Man", and later commits suicide by hanging.

Enraged, Dreymann arranges to anonymously publish an article on concealed suicide rates in the GDR in the West German magazine Der Spiegel. As all typewriters are registered with the Stasi, Dreyman uses a minature typewriter smuggled in from the West with a red ribbon, which he hides under the threshold between two rooms of his apartment. Before discussing sensitive issues in the flat, Dreyman and his friends try to test whether the flat is bugged by a feigned attempt at smuggling. However, out of compassion, Wiesler cannot bring himself to pass on the information -- making the conspirators think that the flat is not bugged.

Though Wiesler originally intended his inactivity to be a one-time move, he continues to lie in his reports to protect Dreyman and reduces surveillance hours in order to eliminate his assistant. Feeling increasingly isolated and alone, Wiesler is devastated when even a prostitute has no time for him and merely moves on to her next "appointment". He starts to steal books off Dreyman's desk and reads them himself. Eventually, Dreyman and his friends finish the article and it is published, infuriating the East German government. Through an agent in the West, the Stasi obtains the typed manuscript only to learn that it was written on an unregistered typewriter with red ink.

Meanwhile, Minister Hempf, seething with hatred at being jilted by Christa-Maria, orders Grubitz to destroy her. He informs Grubitz that Christa-Maria has been buying prescription drugs illegally (it is implied she was relying on Hempf to protect her if she was caught). Later, Grubitz and his men catch her purchasing these drugs. She is arrested and, under pressure, reveals Dreyman's authorship of the Spiegel article. The flat is torn apart by the Stasi, but the typewriter remains elusive. After this failure, Grubitz calls in Wiesler to interrogate Christa-Maria but warns him that a failure to produce results will cost them both.

As Gubitz watches through a one way mirror, Wiesler interrogates Christa-Maria with the same flawlessness that characterised him for many years and subtly referring to their earlier conversation. She tells him where the typewriter is hidden. Grubitz then leads a second search through Dreyman's apartment, now that the location of the typewriter is known. As Grubitz prepares to open the compartment, Christa-Maria, upon seeing Dreymann's horrified expression as he realises that she had disclosed the location of the typewriter, runs out of the apartment. However, the typewriter has vanished, much to the shock of both Grubitz and Dreyman. It emerges that Wiesler had rushed to the apartment, broken in while Dreymann was out and removed the typewriter, which he hides in his car. At the same time, a guilt-ridden Christa-Maria rushes out into the street and throws herself in front of a truck. Wiesler, waiting by his car, witnesses the ensuing collision and tells her that he has already removed the typewriter. Dreyman arrives at the scene and Christa-Maria dies in his arms. Believing that she removed the typewriter to protect him, he weeps unconsolably. Grubitz makes a polite but perfunctory claim of sympathy and leaves with Wiesler

In the aftermath, the surveillance is called off. Certain that Wiesler has somehow interfered with the investigation, Grubitz demotes his friend to Department M, where he must steam-open letters all day. He is also given a promotional ban until he retires in 20 years. Four years and seven months later, Wiesler is opening letters when a co-worker with a radio notifies him of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Elated, Wiesler and his co-workers silently leave.

After German reunification, Dreyman learns from Minister Hempf that he was under full surveillance and uncovers the microphones and surveillance material in his flat, much to his astonishment. Probing into his Stasi files, he learns that Christa-Maria was released far too late to have removed the typewriter. To his shock, Dreymann also learns that Stasi Agent "HGW XX/7" deliberately covered up his deeds against the state, such as the writing of the suicide article. On the final report, a smudge of red ink reveals Wiesler's contact with the typewriter. Deeply moved, Dreyman succeeds in locating Wiesler and watches from a distance as the former Agent goes about his new job of delivering advertising leaflets.

Two years later, Dreyman publishes his first new work since Christa-Maria's death. It is a novel titled, Sonata for a Good Man. In a bookstore, Wiesler finds that it is dedicated "To HGW XX/7, with gratitude". As he purchases the book, he is asked if he wants it gift wrapped and states, "No, it's for me."