thomas4cinema

The image that I will remember is the face. The face of the political magazine presenter Ed Murrow (David Strathairn). This is such an impressively wasted, used, tired, but still agile, fighting and no-surrender kind of face that I am very surprised that I have never seen Strathairn before (or if I have, I don’t remember). He is compensating for the gaps in the script, to be honest. The atmosphere of the whole film meets the expectation, but for some reason that must have to do with the writing, tension never really builds up. Might also have to do with the ever-problematic situation of filming a more or less real story, knowing that life does not always provide for the most dramatic structures, even if the case itself has big potential. I am quite sure that a regular script writer would not have been satisfied with McCarthy sending a pre-recorded tv statement when his clash with the tv programme escalated. Nobody would dare to start a drama with the story about a sacked army employee, only to kind of drop the topic as soon as possible and not mention it again before salvation comes near the end. But life produces this kind of more-boring-than-necessary situation, and you have to give it to Clooney and his co-writer Heslov for sticking rather to facts than to Holywood narration necessities. It makes the film (in particular because of the exciting acting) a most interesting, but maybe not the most exciting movie experience.

I’ve seen that one when it hit the screen, but it was worth seeing a second time. Espacially with my super-short memory, it was worth the second try. I forgot about the dog, to begin with, and I forgot about the cute wife, and I did not forget, of course, that Ed Norton is still among the best – even at a time when he was only not starring in those films that he directed himself… A very melancholic film at times, and one that can be very stylish (in the club where the farewell party takes place, but the whole production design and the clothes do fit in well). P.S. Hofmann, again, at his best, even though it is a part he has played already a couple of times (at least he saved the time for rehearsals). Whether the final twist holds tight and prison rules follow the logic of the script may be questioned, but I guess the makers got a bit scared about letting the film end without the slightest bit of excitement. It would have been even more beautiful.

Ah well… no, not a good film, I think that can be said even though I only watched the edited version (minus 6 minutes of inappropriate material – mostly laundry hanging around in Shanghai and Tom Cruise chatting with a Chinese, I read). No problem to watch that kind of thing, but very hard to remember it three days later. Was that red Lamorghini in MI-3 or Ocean’s Twelve? And who invented that cool "cut a face out of jelly in a minute"-laser thing? Should be a rich man by now, especially as you can apply it and it looks so real – as if there are two P.S. Hofmanns playing in the same film. Iiiiincredible! Speaking of Hofmann: he is worth watching, again, even though a bit one-dimensional, but he gives a certain air of sophistication to this very uncompromising character. He also would have deserved a more inspired end than he got. Ran out of money and saved it on the script side? Just kidding, there is no script, of course, just gadgets… loud gadgets.

Das ist sicher ein Thema, das einmal aufgegriffen werden musste, und wat mut dat mut… Der deutsche erweiterte Fernsehfilm hat eine sehr eindeutige Weise, mit politischen Themen aus der deutschen Vergangenheit umzugehen. Die Optik ist immer angenehm pastellig, der Zeit angemessen, wie man vermuten darf. Der Ton hat immer etwas hartes, die Absaetze klappern lauter, die Jacken rascheln staerker als in anderen Genres. Es gibt mehr stille Momente, und es gibt mehr ausdruckslos starrende Menschen, denen im leben irgenetwas abhanden gekommen zu sein scheint.
In dieser Tradition spielt “Das Leben der Anderen” nicht die schlechteste Rolle. Obwohl der Regisseur jung ist, ist er schon einigermassen routiniert und hat sich gluecklicherweise von seinem gruseligen – nein, das koennte missverstaendlich sein – von seinem grottenschlechten Abschlussfilm “Templer” ausreichend weit entfernt, um wieder ernst genommen zu werden. Ein Meisterwerk ist “Das Leben der Anderen” meiner Meinung nach dennoch nicht. Dafuer ist das Drehbuch zu wenig inspiriert und zu sehr einer einzigen zentralen Idee untergeordnet (“Der gute Stasi”) – und diese Idee selbst hat in ihrer Durchfuehrung (wie kann man so viele Fakten so lange geheim halten, wenn lange Zeit noch ein zweiter Kollege mithoert?) so viele Luecken, dass selbst einem Continuity-Gleichgueltler wie mir immer wieder die Traenen in den Augen standen.
Immerhin, es wurde ein Anfang gemacht, das Stasi-Kapitel filmisch aufzuarbeiten. Das ist erstens gut und wichtig und gibt – das sieht man diesem Film schon an – auch kinematographisch etwas her. Hoffentlich bedeutet das jetzt nicht, dass der Weg damit fuer geschicktere und subtilere Drehbuecher versperrt ist und es bei dem einen Werk bleibt.