History Film / TheLivesOfOthers

* FauxAffablyEvil: Anton Grubitz initially comes across as a likeable if rather cynical bureaucrat who has a friendly relationship with Wiesler. However, it soon becomes apparent that he's nothing more than a ruthless opportunist who thoroughly enjoys abusing his authority and is willing to destroy all those who stand in the way of his lust for more power.

* FauxAffablyEvil: Anton Grubitz initially comes across as a likeable if rather cynical bureaucrat who has a friendly relationship with Wiesler. However, it soon becomes apparent that he's ruthless opportunist who thoroughly enjoys abusing his authority at others' expense and is willing to destroy all those who stand in the way of his lust for more power.

* FauxAffablyEvil: Anton Grubitz initially comes across as a likeable if rather cynical bureaucrat who has a friendly relationship with Wiesler.
However, it soon becomes apparent that he's ruthless opportunist who thoroughly enjoys abusing his authority at others' expense and is willing
to destroy all those who stand in the way of his lust for more power.

* BigBadDuumvirate: Minister of Culture Bruno Hempf and Wiesler's superior, Anton Grubitz, who both personify the pervasive corruption and moral apathy sustaining the German Democratic Republic's authoritarian system.

* BigBadDuuimvirate: Minister of Culture Bruno Hempf and Wiesler's superior, Oberstleutnant Anton Grubitz, who both personify the pervasive corruption and moral apathy sustaining the German Democratic Republic's authoritarian system.

* RealitySubtext: Many people involved in the filmmaking had a history with East Germany, having lived there, having had relatives living there and having been, naturally, spied on by Stasi agents. Notably the film's star, Ulrich Mühe, was under surveillance and later found out that his (then) ''wife'' was a registered informant on him.

** The Stasi are keeping surveillance on [[Film/TheBaaderMeinhofComplex Ulrike Meinof]], even though she should have died a few years earlier.

** The Stasi are keeping surveillance on [[TheBaaderMeinhofComplex Ulrike Meinof]], even though she should have died a few years earlier.

* KarmaHoudini: After coercing Christa into sex she was clearly repulsed by and vindictively ruining hers and other peoples' lives, not much happens to Minister Hempf. Sure, he loses power after the fall of the Berlin Wall but he doesn't seem too bad off.-- In the film commentary, the director points out that this is [[TruthInTelevision based in reality]], as many of the Eastern German bigwigs landed on their feet after the fall of the BerlinWall.

* LookBothWays: [[spoiler: Maria-Christa's death]].

* MoodWhiplash: Wiesler listening intently in on Dreyman asking Christa not to leave is a truly touching scene, as it shows he's starting to care about them. Then Ubo bursts in to take over the shift and: "Let me guess what they're doing..." [makes humping gestures]
* TheMuse: Maria-Christa to Dreyman.

The film takes place in state-socialist EastGermany and tells the story of Captain Gerd Wiesler, a stoic officer of the SecretPolice, Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (also known as TheStasi). His job is to find and interrogate "enemies of socialism", people with Western sympathies or just plain wrong opinions. He is ordered by friend and superior Anton Grubitz to carry out a spying operation against playwright Georg Dreyman, whom they suspect is not what he seems. Wiesler and his men install numerous microphones in Dreyman's apartment, and his life is filled with sitting in the attic, listening in on Dreyman and his girlfriend, actress Christa-Maria Sieland.

* EffectiveImmediately: Wiesler's demotion.

The film takes place in socialist EastGermany and tells the story of Captain Gerd Wiesler, a stoic officer of the SecretPolice, Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (also known as TheStasi). His job is to find and interrogate "enemies of socialism", people with Western sympathies or just plain wrong opinions. He is ordered by friend and superior Anton Grubitz to carry out a spying operation against playwright Georg Dreyman, whom they suspect is not what he seems. Wiesler and his men install numerous microphones in Dreyman's apartment, and his life is filled with sitting in the attic, listening in on Dreyman and his girlfriend, actress Christa-Maria Sieland.

* BrickJoke: Early on in the film, a young Stasi officer makes a politically dangerous joke in front of his superiors. [[spoiler: After Wiesler is ReassignedToAntactica in the letter-opening room, the same character informs him the wall has come down]].

* BlackmailIsSuchAnUglyWord: Dreyman should be careful about using it.

* AntiHero: Wiesler is either that or, if you think of him as a VillainProtagonist, an AntiVillain.

* BlackmailIsSuchAnUglyWord, and Dreyman should be careful about using it. [[BlatantLies Because it doesn't happen in this country. Not at all, nope.]]

* DoubleEntendre: Non-sexual example:
--> [[spoiler: Wiesler: "No, [the book] is for me." Said book being written by Dreyman]] with the quote in CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming.

* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: [[CaptainObvious Obviously.]] Wiesler goes against the state to protect Georg and Christa and [[spoiler: ends up demoted to opening letters in a cellar.]] Also, Wiesler choosing not to report the gold Mercedes smuggling attempt turns out to backfire on the people he was trying to help.
* PetTheDog: Wiesler gets in an elevator, and a plastic ball bounces in, followed by the little boy who owns the ball. The boy asks if Wiesler is really a Stasi member, and clarifies that "They're bad men who put men in jail, says my dad." To which Wiesler responds, "What's the name of your... [[LastSecondWordSwap ball]]?"

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Wiesler and (eventually) everyone else in the office's reaction to the news that the [[BerlinWall Wall]] had opened. Meta-justified in, with the Wall fallen, it would have only been a matter of time before they were told to leave their posts.
* SecretPolice: Duh, Stasi.

** For example, all the spying equipment is authentic, brought from museums. Even the machine they use to steam envelopes open.
** As well the last scenes with Dreyman looking up his old surveillance files.

--> [[spoiler: Wiesler: "No, [the book] is for me." Said book being written by Dreyman]] with the above quote in CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming.

* DrivenToSuicide: Jerska, [[spoiler: possibly Christa-Maria as well]]

The film takes place in socialist EastGermany and tells the story of Captain Gerd Wiesler, a stoic officer of the secret police, Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (also known as Stasi). His job is to find and interrogate "enemies of socialism", people with Western sympathies or just plain wrong opinions. He is ordered by friend and superior Anton Grubitz to carry out a spying operation against playwright Georg Dreyman, whom they suspect is not what he seems. Wiesler and his men install numerous microphones in Dreyman's apartment, and his life is filled with sitting in the attic, listening in on Dreyman and his girlfriend, actress Christa-Maria Sieland.

** [[{{Downfall}} Martin Bormann]] also seems to be doing pretty well for himself in East Germany.

* NeverTrustATrailer - The theatrical trailer played up the suspense of living under surveillance and pressure in a socialist state. The "Stasi agent comes to care about his targets and goes to extreme lengths to protect them" angle wasn't that clear.
* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: [[CaptainObvious Obviously.]] Wiesler goes against the state to protect Georg and Christa and [[spoiler: ends up demoted to opening letters in a cellar.]]
** Also, Wiesler choosing not to report the gold Mercedes smuggling attempt turns out to backfire on the people he was trying to help.
* PetTheDog - Wiesler gets in an elevator, and a plastic ball bounces in, followed by the little boy who owns the ball. The boy asks if Wiesler is really a Stasi member, and clarifies that "They're bad men who put men in jail, says my dad." To which Wiesler responds, "What's the name of your... [[LastSecondWordSwap ball]]?"
* RealitySubtext - Many people involved in the filmmaking had a history with East Germany, having lived there, having had relatives living there and having been, naturally, spied on by Stasi agents.
** The film's star, Ulrich Mühe, was under surveillance and later found out that his ''then wife'' was a registered informant on him.
* RousseauWasRight - The whole point of the movie.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere - Wiesler and (eventually) everyone else in the office's reaction to the news that the [[BerlinWall Wall]] had opened. Meta-justified in, with the Wall fallen, it would have only been a matter of time before they were told to leave their posts.
* SecretPolice - duh, Stasi.
* ShownTheirWork - For example, all the spying equipment is authentic, brought from museums. Even the machine they use to steam envelopes open.

** AcceptableBreaksFromReality - Everything else falls under this, such as a Stasi member performing a HeelFaceTurn and being able to lie (in reality, even the people doing surveillance were under surveillance).

* SilenceIsGolden - Some of the most powerful scenes are the ones with very little spoken dialogue and subtle nuances of emotion.

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_lives_of_others.jpg]]

* AntiHero: Wiesler, of course.

* [[BlackmailIsSuchAnUglyWord Blacklist Is Such An Ugly Word]]: and Dreyman should be careful about using it. [[BlatantLies Because it doesn't happen in this country. Not at all, nope.]]
* ChekhovsGun: The red ink on the secret typewriter rubs off on Dreyman's fingers early in the film when he's hiding it. Towards the end, when he looks at his own records, a red smudged fingerprint on the last transcription page is how he finds out about Wiesler having protected them.
** Well, it's pretty obvious even without the red fingerprint as Dreyman sees that Wielser fabricated many reports to make it look like he is just writing a play. Some of the reports actually describe passages from the play that Wiesler made up, and they are amusingly bad.
* CodeName - All Stasi agents had one. Wiesler is known as HGW XX/7 ('''H'''auptmann '''G'''erd '''W'''iesler and his division). Dreyman is also assigned a codename, "Lazlo", though he only finds out years later when looking up his Stasi files.

* DoubleEntendre - Non-sexual example:

* DramaticIrony - Dreyman is oblivious to the fact that he's being watched 24/7, but the audience isn't.
** Also Christa-Maria's relationship with the minister.
*** As well as Christa-Maria's [[spoiler: confessions to the Stasi.]]

* DrivenToSuicide - Jerska, [[spoiler: possibly Christa-Maria as well]]
** Possibly?

* FanDisservice - both Christa-Maria's sex scene with the minister, and the scene in which Wiesler hires a prostitute and tries in vain to make an emotional connection to her as well as a sexual one.
* HeelFaceTurn - Wiesler.
* HeyItsThatGuy - Volker "Zack" Michalowski cameos as typewriter expert. This unfortunately caused [[{{Narm}} unintended laughter]] among the (German) audience, because he is mainly known for his SketchComedy show. The fact that he used his trademark [[GermanDialects Saxon accent]] also didn't help. ([[BreatherEpisode Or was casting him even intentional?]])

* KarmaHoudini - After coercing Christa into sex she was clearly repulsed by and vindictively ruining hers and other peoples' lives, not much happens to Minister Hempf. Sure, he loses power after the fall of the Berlin Wall but he doesn't seem too bad off.
** If you've listened to the film commentary, the director points out that this is Truth in Television. Many of the Eastern German bigwigs landed on their feet after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Also, in the Hempf-Dreyman scene, Hempf was supposed to mention that his son was in politics with one of the far left German parties. The scene was reworked so as not to offend anyone associated with that party.
* KickTheDog - Grubitz's cruel trick on the underling he catches telling a joke about then Chairman Honecker.

* FridgeBrilliance: Dreyman says "my place is safe" to Paul in the park. Sure, he didn't know it, but Wiesler was the one keeping it safe.
** Look carefully at the young man handing Wiesler the earpiece saying "the Wall has fallen." It's the same guy who told the joke in the canteen.