The Lives of Others (2006)

5/5

William Shakespeare once said that "all the world's a stage". These words ring especially true in Florian Henckel von Donnersmark's debut film "The Lives of Others" (Das Leben Der Anderen). The brain child of Donnersmark, "The Lives of Others" was directed, written, and co-produced by the German filmmaker. The Academy nailed it on the head when they awarded this the Best Foreign Language film and it really does have something to say about Germany's place in the film industry after the renaissance they have had the past 13 years with such films as "The Edukators", "Goodbye, Lenin", and "The Baader Meinhof Complex". "The Lives of Others" is the superior to these films, but they are all very good in themselves and have made Germany my go to for foreign films.

Set in 1984 in East Berlin, Gerd Wiesler (Ulrich Mühe) is a professor at Potsdam University who also dabbles in work with the East German secret police, the Stasi. His colleague and friend Anton Grubitz (Ulrich Tukur) invites him to the premier of playwright Georg Dreymen's (Sebastian Koch) latest play. Grubitz remarks how Dreymen is one of the few writers of East Germany who is faithful to the state. Wiesler, however, is not sold on this fact. He views Dreymen as an arrogant artisan, the kind he warns his students about. Grubitz brings this up with his boss Minister Hempf (Thomas Thieme) who authorizes a full wire tap of Dreymen's apartment. Wiesler is assigned to monitor the taps and during his surveilance slowly becomes more and more involved in their lives and their secrets.

I don't even know where to begin with this film. There is almost neigh a problem with it. The score is hauntingly intimate, Ulrich Mühe is a revelation in his role that is played with such a quiet intensity it's almost unsettling, in fact the whole ensemble of actors are fantastic, and Donnersmark's script is perfect from beginning to the final frame. A problem most movies have is that by the end they've fallen into so many cliches that it all feels so derivative. "The Lives of Others" has an ending that could only be sold by the talent that is Mühe and it works in such an unreal way.

The Great Gatsby (2013)

3/5

Baz Luhrman's "The Great Gatsby" is a colorful adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's magnum opus. While colorful in the right dose can be wonderful and vibrant and make the film come alive, Luhrman had decided to overdose the audience in his love of flashy exuberance.

Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) has moved into a small groundskeepers shack in West Egg on Long Island, a retreat for the new money of the booming 20's. He is cousin to Daisy Buchanan (Carey Mulligan), the wife of old money Tom Buchanan (Joel Edgerton). Nick's mysterious neighbor, Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio) throws many lavish parties during the summer. One day Nick receives an invitation to one of Gatsby's upcoming affairs. At the party he finally meets Gatsby and the two soon become friends. However, Gatsby has a favor to ask of Nick: Reunite him with the love that he lost five year prior, Daisy. Nick struggles with the idea of putting Daisy's marriage at risk, but there is something about this Gatsby that he just can't refuse. Maybe it's hope.

You know a movie is really fantastic when you forget that it is exactly that, a movie. All films should strive for this feeling, yet "The Great Gatsby" makes a habit of pulling you out of the story. Luhrman may have thought that putting Beyonce and Jay-Z into the soundtrack was hip or stylish or that it drew a parallel between the mindset of the partygoers of the 20's and the people you meet in a nightclub, but it really just makes the film much too chaotic. In it's quiet moments, when the stars are allowed to shine, they really do a pretty good job. Leonardo DiCaprio is the highlight of the whole show, but I'd also like to point the spotlight at the biggest surprise this film had and that is Elizabeth Debicki as Jordan Baker. She is utterly fantastic and steals every scene she is in. I see big things for her in the near future. If I had to say anything about this movie it is this: It's an improvement over the 1974 Robert Redford Gatsby. But not much of one.