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The Lives of Others
That's the new German movie with the rave reviews and the foreign language film Oscar, but don't be fooled. The movie is technically excellent, but not thoughtful. It is part of a more general, and disturbing, trend in contemporary German culture to whitewash the past. The film shows many small acts of defiance against the Stasi, as if to redeem an otherwise sorry East German record. Last year -- fortunately I cannot remember the title -- we were shown the German martyrs against the Nazis.
Don't economists emphasize the marginal unit? Can't we have at least one movie about small acts of defiance? In principle yes, but characters implausibly discover the brotherhood of man and viewers are fed uplifting final homilies, a'la Schindler. Natasha, who lived with her equivalent of the Stasi for many years, had a similar reaction of partial disgust and incredulity.
My friends consider me a cultural Germanophile (I could do "My Favorite Things German" for weeks), but I tend to be a cynic about the blacker historical episodes in the German past. I used to hate the slow, tortuous, and pretentious Nazi-Angst movies of Fassbinder and his ilk, but they've aged surprisingly well, and they came much closer to striking the appropriate tone.
Addendum: Here is one good review (spoilers); by the way if you know the Hong Kong original, Infernal Affairs, you'll find The Departed almost impossible to watch. I walked out.
Posted by Tyler Cowen on February 25, 2007 at 09:34 PM in Film | Permalink
Comments
Whitewashing the past?
I think that's so untrue. Germans are barely dipping their toes into the water of addressing their own historic past. I remember when "Der Untergang" was filmed and how the German media was discussing whether Germans had the "right" to make movie about their own history.
Guilt is very alive and well in Germany, in my opinion.
I think it's very difficult to really understand history unless you've lived in that environment. I haven't. But I have parents who have. My father in the worst ways imaginable. Just a thought.
Posted by: Ulli at Feb 26, 2007 12:14:59 AM
"The film shows many small acts of defiance against the Stasi, as if to redeem an otherwise sorry East German record."
Its certainly true that the movie shows acts of defiance against the Stasi, some small, some not so. I'm not sure why you drew the conclusion that this redeems a sorry East German record.
Posted by: alex at Feb 26, 2007 1:01:33 AM
Hey, Ulli,
You might want to read Tyler's CV before commenting on his commentary. He DID live in Germany.
Posted by: Richard Pointer at Feb 26, 2007 1:23:55 AM
If getting older means that I will come to enjoy, or even appreciate, Fassbinder then I don't want to grow up.
Posted by: Soya at Feb 26, 2007 2:27:55 AM
I think I just saw the movie you can't remember the name of, "Sophie Scholl: The Final Days", I have to say thought that it was pretty blah, but I visited Munich last summer and say a display commemorating the events in the movie so it was nice to see familiar sights.
Posted by: ben at Feb 26, 2007 7:08:22 AM
There was a very interesting discussion of the film over on crookedtimber a few weeks ago started by Chris Bertram. I don't have the link handy but I'm sure it's easy to search for. I've not seen it so won't say more about the film itself here. (Those who thought 'The Downfall' were pro-Nazi were obviously crazy, though.)
Posted by: Matt at Feb 26, 2007 8:43:31 AM
The annoying thing is that Pan's Labyrinth should have won the Oscar.
Posted by: IP Guy at Feb 26, 2007 10:10:32 AM
"...by the way if you know the Hong Kong original, Infernal Affairs, you'll find The Departed almost impossible to watch. I walked out."
Why is that? I've seen, and enjoyed, both. (And I saw Infernal Affairs first.)
Posted by: jmunnie at Feb 26, 2007 10:22:33 AM
I saw the movie with my wife who grew up in Communist Eastern Europe, and we both thought it was excellent. I don't agree with the requirement that a movie about something bad is supposed to make you feel bad when leaving the cinema.
Richard, Tyler lived in WEST Germany. As someone who has grown up there, I can assure you that it does not give you any special insight into life in EAST Germany before 1989.
Posted by: Menski at Feb 26, 2007 10:26:45 AM
Stick to economics, as a movie critic you suck. The Lives of Others/em> isn't about the GDR, it's about people. It reminds us that people can choose and every once and a while they can make good choices, hard choices. The movie isn't technically excellant, it's art. The kind of art that seems to going out of American movies, not because we lack the talent, but because we let the bean counters run things and they have a one dimentional view of a wonderfully complex world. Economics is essential knowledge for the operation of a country or culture, but there's more to a countries or cultures than a profit margin.
A better use of your blog might be to educate people, like me, who are far to ignorant of Economics. Seed's Science blogs are doing some posts on the basics of their disalpines. That would be interesting. Here's a question I was asked recently and I don't knoe the answer. What causes inflation? not the specifics of any time and place, but the root causes. Is it ineveitable? Is it even bad?
Posted by: Weldon MacDonald at Feb 26, 2007 10:45:40 AM
"It is part of a more general, and disturbing, trend in contemporary German culture to whitewash the past."
What are you talking about?
Posted by: Josh at Feb 26, 2007 11:10:12 AM
One thing may be added:
Even the Italien Robert Benigni movie "Das Leben ist schön" is more likable than most German Hitler-era movies.
And sadly, while we have started to analyze some of the brutality of the Hitler regime, we haven't even started on the DDR regime terreur. The problem is that the DDR hasn't killed as many dissidents or innocents as the Nazis and thus hasn't the same evil position in the left-leaning minds of a nation that is unified (as a nation state) for about 150 years.
And if you look at the way the German politicians deal with Nazi era, you know why there is only the feeling of guilt (very unspecific), but no discussion about it. It is often even dangerous to discuss the whole damn thing in the class-room without accidentially crossing the legal line (Volksverhetzung).
As a German, I can fully support Mr. Cowen's take on contemporary GErman culture. Especially, if someone accidentially watchs German television, he might find something praising the beauty of DDR-chique, which is utterly disgusting...
Posted by: Max at Feb 26, 2007 11:26:13 AM
I often disagree with Your reviews Tyler but I thought The Departed was highly overrated. For an interesting book on the GDR try Anna Funder's Stasiland.
Posted by: bob at Feb 26, 2007 12:58:44 PM
I've been a Hong Kong Cinema fan for years, since Golden Harvest was distributing films to college houses like the UC Theater and to the Nuart. Infernal Affairs was a schlocky, shoot 'em up with bad soap opera writing lacking any of the charm, humor or action creativity of the best HK cinema. Heroic work by Tony Leung and Andy Lau are the only reason that movie was any good.
Scorcese, on the other hand, has immaculate pacing, superb framing and gets compelling performances from Leonardo DiCaprio's & Marky Mark, and a fun bit of hamming it up from Nicholson. The writing provide disctinct characters and some coherency and consistency, alhough the real world time line seemed jumpy. (Vera Farmigia was a bit lame.)
I only rarely assign personal blame to matters of opinion, and don't mean to be personal, but your negative comparison and especially your decision to walk out on The Departed reveals an appalling lack of judgement that reduces credibility in matters of writing, directing and acting. Seriously, my whole take on Marginal Revolution just shifted.
Posted by: guy in the veal calf office at Feb 26, 2007 1:01:40 PM
"you'll find The Departed almost impossible to watch."
Well not exactly. However, The Departed is strikingly unoriginal. Indeed, it is virtually a copy of the Infernal Affairs down to the details of many, many scenes.
Not too many Americans seem to know that for whatever reason. It this knowledge was widespread, I doubt it would have won an Oscar.
By the way their is an Infernal Affairs II & III.
Posted by: Peter Schaeffer at Feb 26, 2007 1:10:39 PM
Das Leben der Anderen certainly isn't perfect, but I think Tyler seriously overstates his objection to it. The GDR is portrayed in an unremittingly bad light throughout and those who "resist" are hardly portrayed as heroic (in fact their resistance is almost accidental). I gather Anna Funder has been rather negative about the film too, on the grounds that no transformation similar to that depicted ever occurred. That's a fair point to make (both politically and historically), but don't let it put you off.
I thought Sophie Scholl was a weak film, but not a whitewash either.
(As it happens I've also seen three Fassbinders in recent weeks: Maria Braun gets AAA+++, and Fear Eats the Soul is pretty remarkable too. The two hours I spent in front of The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant were entirely wasted.)
Posted by: Chris Bertram at Feb 26, 2007 2:21:06 PM
I look forward to Tyler condemning a movie about Beethoven on the grounds that the average composer is not deaf.
Posted by: Steve Sailer at Feb 26, 2007 4:06:44 PM
As the film critic for the American Conservative, I have to think all the time about this issue of man-bites-dog stories (marginal vs. average). So, let me try to draw a distinction between bad and good man-bite-dogs stories.
For example, if you watch "Law & Order" and its spin-offs faithfully, you would conclude that the average murderer in NYC lives on Park Avenue. No attempt is made to show that these hundreds of upscale murderers are man-bites-dog stories.
Dick Wolf pretty clearly got the idea for "Law & Order" from Tom Wolfe's novel "Bonfire of the Vanities" about the travails of Park Avenue resident Sherman McCoy in New York's criminal justice system.
The difference between the two is that Tom Wolfe is clear that story of the Park Avenue jailbird is interesting both to readers and to everyone in his fictional NYC precisely because Sherman McCoy is the exception to the rule. Tom Wolfe calls the Bronx district attorney's crusade against the bond trader "the Hunt for the Great White Defendant." It's both a conscious political strategy to win minority votes and a relief against the daily boredom and depression of packing poor, uneducated minorities off to jail in vast numbers.
In contrast, "Law & Order" is completely free of irony and satire. It's hundreds of man-bites-dog stories of Park Avenue murderers are presented as
Having read "Bonfire of the Vanities" a half dozen times, it was clear pretty early on to me that the crusade by the Durham, NC District Attorney and the New York Times' against the Duke lacrosse players was just another "Hunt for the Great White Defendant." And that has turned out to be true.
From this perspective, "The Lives of Others" is almost completely innocent of Tyler's charges. The Stasi secret policeman who slowly turns into the dissident East Berlin playwright's guardian angel (a nice reference to the last great Berlin movie "Wings of Desire") is presented as unique, not as representative of the Stasi. The film doesn't make any claim that this is anything other than a man-bites-dog story.
I think "The Lives of Others" might be the best film of 2006.
Posted by: Steve Sailer at Feb 26, 2007 4:27:06 PM
Scorcese movies are always hit-or-miss to me. I loved Raging Bull, hated Taxi Driver. I loved Goodfellas, hated Gangs of New York.
Maybe this type of extreme visceral reaction to his films is what has kept Marty from getting the Oscar up 'til now.
Posted by: Christina at Feb 26, 2007 5:54:18 PM
Tyler claims:
"if you know the Hong Kong original, Infernal Affairs, you'll find The Departed almost impossible to watch."
That's like saying, "if you know Hamlet, you'll find The Lion King almost impossible to watch."
Internal Affairs and The Departed are too quite different movies that share a plot gimmick. The American movie, for example, is about the Boston Irish, which the Hong Kong movie, well, isn't. Overall, Internal Affairs is a good little minimalist thriller, while The Departed is a maximalist extravaganza with Scorsese using his prestige to assemble a production with massive lashings of male star power.
Posted by: Steve Sailer at Feb 26, 2007 8:00:12 PM
We were heroes by Thomas Brussig.A Portnoys complaint in the East shows that german are under what in spanish is call matiz hedonico del recuerdo, sorry i dont know to say it in english.It means tath people forget what is bad or at least remember it as good
Posted by: jcm at Feb 26, 2007 8:03:47 PM
Argh, badly closed italics tag
That's better.
Posted by: Xmas at Feb 27, 2007 6:16:57 AM
sorry.
badly closed emphasis tag
Posted by: Xmas at Feb 27, 2007 6:17:54 AM
"The Lives of Others" is amazing storytelling, though I wouldn't try to venture whether it's historically accurate. What in the hell do you *think* you mean by Fassbinder striking a more "appropriate" tone? Is there a guidebook explaining the standards for "appropriate" tone in German historical narrative that I'm unaware of?
Don't quit your day job.
Posted by: queridobobo at Feb 28, 2007 4:27:35 PM
funnily enough, i found "the departed" to be a far better movie than "infernal affairs." perhaps it was because i saw it first. but, i would argue that it was far more interesting; the analysis of damon and dicaprio's characters went far deeper, scenarios were explained as they occurred far more comprehensively, and still it remained very interesting. i felt "infernal affairs" to be bogged down by unexplained, cheesy side love stories (with the dicaprio analog), and it didn't really seem like damon's counterpart was sufficiently motivated in his turn at the end. and, like i said before, the succession of scenes was just not comprehensive or threaded together that well. i'm surprised you walked out on "the departed," tyler. at least i thought the dialogue was rich enough to make it worth watching.
Posted by: gopes at Feb 28, 2007 7:26:44 PM
