Scene by scene analysis

Scene 1

  • opens with text about the stasi

    • the text is written in a typewriter font — common motif within film

      • Wiesler uses a typewriter to write (and fake) reports, Dreyman writes the article on a new typewriter with specific ink, retrieving the typewriter is Wiesler’s riskiest rebellion against the SED’s regime —> motif that symbolises rebellion?

        • symbolises the idea that writing, and art more broadly as well, is an act of rebellion

    • the text is about the control and surveillance of the stasi specifically

      • focus in the film

      • introduces the idea of surveilance with emphasis on how dangerous and unnerving it can be

        • sets viewers up to be more opposed to the stasi

    • provides historical context for the film

      • allows it to be more rooted in reality

        • therefore more impactful

  • sound of boots walking

    • squeaking of stasi officer’s boots = uneasy feeling, presents him as intimidating + as an opressive figure

  • stasi officer taking prisoner to be interrogated and tortured

    • costume: stasi officer = strict uniform, prisoner = regular clothing

      • presents the stasi as strict, severe, working against the people

    • green corridor contrasts the red lights and draws attention to them

      • danger

  • stasi officer and Wiesler speak in the imperative mood

    • ordering the prisoner about — strict, authoritative, imposing

  • shot of the recording device, hands on the seat — MAKES the viewer notice it

  • cross-cutting between the interrogation and the classroom

    • uncomfortable juxtaposition

      • creates an uncomfortable atmosphere — this man’s real interrogation and torture are being used as teaching material

  • window behind Wiesler

    • windows=freedom therefore Wiesler is blocking the prisoner from his freedom

    • second section, window = darker, curtain AND Wiesler between it and the prisoner, which symbolises how he has less chance of being freed

  • students have neutral expressions, not really reacting despite the fact that they’re listening to a man get tortured —> desensitised

    • uncomfortable atmosphere for the viewer — feels unsettling + like a juxtaposition to see people react so little to torture, especially teenagers

    • creates the idea that there is always someone listening in in the GDR — even when the stasi are interrogating you

    • when someone does speak up against it, Wiesler puts a cross by his name

      • instantly taken out of consideration for becoming a stasi officer — shows how strict they are

        • shows more widely how strict the whole regime was against those who opposed them

  • Wiesler speaks definitively — “will”

    • experience

    • certainty

    • unwavering in his loyalty to the stasi and his work

  • emphasis placed on the odor samples

    • highlights the lengths the stasi went to

  • Grubitz implies that Wiesler helped him get good grades in school

    • foreshadows Wiesler being by-the-book and a genuine believer in communism vs Grubitz being corrupt and only there for the power and authority

Scene 2

  • title ‘the lives of others’ shown just before scene in the theatre w/ Dreyman + CMS’s introductions

    • presents them, and artists generally, as the ‘others’

      • suggests are the antithesis of the stasi + the DDR regime — free, creative, loving, etc. — and therefore they are the ones who can effectively rebel against the regime’s control

      • links back to typewriter symbolism — art as rebellion?

  • Dreyman introduced with aplause

    • “Helden des Regimes”

      • before he begins rebelling — reflect how the GDR only treated its citizens well when they conformed to the regime

    • presents him as the hero in contrast to Wiesler

  • Wiesler watches Dreyman during the play

    • not appreciating art —> sets up his change, which is partially due to reading the thing by Brecht and listening to the Sonata

    • suspicious of Dreyman despite Grubtz’s assurance that he’s loyal

      • presents him as someone whos a bit paranoid out of loyalty

        • suspicious of everyone — microcosm for the regime?

  • ‘Schild und Schwert’

    • shield is first to present the stasi as defending/protecting the people

  • Grubitz says that Dreyman could be disloyal to the regime despite what he said to Wiesler

    • trying to get Hempf to think he is diligent?

      • “that is why you and me are on top” —> wants Hempf to give him a promotion basically

        • shows his corruption and powerhungriness

    • calls back to him saying that Wiesler helped him get good grades

  • Hempf describes Hauser as '“dubios” and tells Grubitz to watch out for him at the party — introduces the audience to how Hauser rebels much more vocally than Dreyman especially at the beginning

  • “Maßnahmen A und B” of bugging the room

    • code words — know what each other are talking about, but eavesdroppers won’t

      • level of secrecy in the stasi

  • Grubitz calls Hempf “Genauso Minister” despite obvious power imbalance

    • corrupt government with power hungry officials rather than true communism

Scene 3

  • Dreyman + Christa dancing — conveys intimacy of their relationship

  • party with live music, fancy clothes and jewellery etc. wasn’t something many GDR citizens were able to do

    • the artists are not just ‘others’ to Wiesler but to the average GDR citizen as well

  • Hempf can’t remember which “große Sozialist” he is quoting

    • not truly dedicated to the ideology

  • Hempf is predatory towards Christa

    • presents his corruption and lack of morals

  • Dreyman sticks up for Jerska about his blacklisting and Hempf says “So gibt das gar nicht bei uns” and “Sollten vorsichtiger ihren Wort wählen” (?)

    • implying to Dreyman that he shouldn’t suggest anything negative about the regime

  • Dreyman’s plays have ‘a belief that people can change’

    • this sets up the idea of the whole film — Wiesler changing morally

    • creates irony, as Hempf is describing them as such when Wiesler (and Dreyman) changes to rebel against the regime that he is part of

Scene 4

  • Grubitz ordering Wiesler around, despite the fact it was Wiesler’s idea to survey Dreyman in the first place

  • Wiesler’s apartment is pretty empty, grey curtains, basic furtiture, not much decoration, etc.

    • following the regime

    • contrasts with Dreyman’s apartment which we later see is cluttered, bright, has plants, etc.

      • Wiesler doesn’t have love, art, passion, joy, etc. in his life

Scene 5

  • Dreyman playing football in the road

    • lighthearted, fun etc. person

    • contrast w/ Wiesler

  • Wiesler watching, taking notes

    • diligence

    • possibly noting timings of Dreyman’s day?

    • suspicious of EVERYTHING

  • costume: Dreyman=fairly casual, shirt with no tie, open coat vs. Wiesler=uniform, jacket buttoned to the top, straight lines

Scene 6

  • go in IMMEDIATELY after Dreyman leaves

  • precise tool to open lock

  • one after the other

  • no dialogue (apart from “20 Minuten”)

  • tense, building music

  • gloves

  • different types of bugging, shows specific methods

  • electronic sound effects

^all work to present the lengths that the stasi would go to in order to spy on GDR citizens

  • microcosm for the regime controlling every part of everyday life?

  • Dreyman has a big window with a lot of light coming through

    • Wiesler walks from one side of the room to the other

      • by coming into Dreyman’s home and bugging it, he is taking away Dreyman’s freedom

      • however he then stops obstructing Dreyman’s freedom by faking reports (symbolised by him walking out of the way of the window)

  • Wiesler notices Frau Meinicke in the window

    • shows how much he notices/extent of suspicion

  • knows about her daughter — researched whole building

Scene 7

  • lots of shouting at Jerska’s

    • unrest — creates a tense atmosphere for the audience

  • books all around

    • wise + knowledgeable?

  • Jerska says that writers like Dreyman can write about whatever they want

    • foreshadows Dreyman writing an article agaisnt the regime, perhaps the moment that inspired him to do so

    • a director who can’t direct “hat gar nichts mehr”

      • reflects Jerskas hopelessness and depression, which lead to his suicide

  • Dreyman lies to Jerska to give him more hope

    • presents him as a kind person

Scene 8

  • room starts in the dark, then Wiesler turns on the lights

    • reflects him figuratively going from ‘being in the dark’ about Dreyman’s loyalty to knowing because of him bugging the appartment

  • contrast between surveilance room=silence, Dreyman’s apartment=music

  • decorations, clothes etc. = celabratory atmosphere

  • asking Frau Meinecke if she can keep a secret

    • creates irony as she is keeping the secret of the bugging of the apartment from Dreyman

    • her fear of her daughter losing her uni place is evident    

      • reflects that people were terrified of what the stasi could do to them

  • Christa waits for Dreyman to leave before taking the pill

Scene 9

  • opens with loud guitar music

    • contrasts the silence of Christa’s loneliness

    • creates a celabratory, fun, lively atmosphere

  • Jerska sent people away from him

    • self isolation

      • reflects his depression

  • Wiesler is in the centre of the frame

    • seems unnatural in contrast to shots of the party with characters off centre and/or with camera movement

      • reflects the fact that he is an outsider in their life, listening in but not truly part of it

        • unnatural

      • creates a feeling of order and strictness

        • particularly in opposition to the freedom/liveliness of the artists

  • Hauser trying to provoke the new director

  • Hauser and Dreyman on opposite sides of the frame — opposing views on the situation

    • they both know (or suspect at least) that the director has stasi affiliations

      • Hauser will outwardly talk about it, whereas Dreyman says that they don’t “know” — he is willing to decidedly be ignorant in order to not offend the SED and end up in the same position as Jerska

  • “Irgendwann musst du Position beziehen oder bist du kein Mensch”

    • Similar to when Dreyman asks if anyone who listened to the sonata could be a bad person

    • clearly lays out the differences in Dreyman and Hauser’s approaches; Hauser is vocal about what he opposes whereas Dreyman is willing to go along with things then oppose in private

      • this allows for Dreyman to change alongside Wiesler (Nebenwandlung) and outwardly act against the regime

  • music is muffled when the camera is on Wiesler

    • diegetic — through his headphones

    • further presents him as an outsider to the artists’ lives

Scene 10

  • abundance of gifts

    • conveys to the audience how popular Dreyman is

      • it contrasts how little there was in Wiesler’s apartment, which in turn emphasises Wiesler’s lack of personal connections (outside of Grubitz who he isn’t exactly friends with)

  • Dreyman gets the sheet music for the sonata

    • he casts it aside and kisses Christa, which could represent how he is not yet ready to act against the regime

  • Dreyman and Christa’s intimacy and the soft music is contrasted with the harshness of the sound of Wiesler’s typewriter

Scene 11

  • Wiesler wants to sit with the regular employees however Grubitz wants to sit with the bosses

    • “Irgendwo muss der Sozialismus doch beginn” —> highlights the fact that Wiesler is part of the stasi out of belief in socialism, whereas Grubitz is there out of a desire for power

  • Grubitz says that Wiesler can’t monitor higher ministers

    • he (and the system technically) is allowing Hempf (and other high up ministers) to act in an immoral way without consequences

      • this reflects the corruption of the whole system, and also of Grubitz personally

        • the main reason he isn’t allowing Wiesler to report negatively about Hempf is because he is technically in charge of the operation, so he would get in trouble for it

      • ‘one rule for me, another rule for thee’

      • reminds me of when they start changing the rules in animal farm

    • Wiesler questions Grubitz, implying that he disagrees with his viewpoint

      • shows he is starting to lose faith in the party due to its corruption

  • Grubitz is demotes a man for making a joke about Germany’s political situation

    • we see him at the end with Wiesler and other employees who presumably ‘betrayed the regime’ or ‘derided the part'y’

    • he is presented as a bully, and intimidates the man by switching his tone immediately and ruining his whole career

    • he then makes a joke of his own which (in my interpretation) is directly critical of Honecker, yet he receives no punishment and even people from other tables laugh

      • this further presents the party’s corruption even reaches jokes

        • lower employees aren’t allowed to make jokes that tow the line of criticism without punishment whereas higher up employees can without facing any backlash

          • ‘one rule for me, another rule for thee’

Scene 12

  • cuts between Dreyman and Wiesler both writing

    • draws visual parralels between them

      • perhaps to reflect that they will change alongside each other throughout the course of the film

  • reveals Wiesler drawing floorplan

  • Christa ignores Hempf, but he keeps following and talking to her

    • this shows how much of a predator he is

    • he refuses to take no for an answer

    • this can further be seen when she sits still as he is talking to her and assaulting her, as she doesn’t consent

  • the driver looks at them through the rear view mirror then looks away

    • this shows him turning a blind eye to Hempfs horrible actions, which we have already seen from Grubitz

      • this reflects the party’s corruption and how people with a lot of power are allowed to get away with doing bad things, both in the period that the film is set in and in the present day

  • Wiesler hacks the doorbell, which leads to Dreyman seeing Christa in Hempf’s car

    • could be in order to counter what Grubitz told him about not being allowed to monitor Hempf

    • could also be because he wants to see how Dreyman reacts

  • CMS showers

    • trying to clean herself of Hempf

Scene 13

Scene 14

Scene 15

  • Christa says that Hauser isn’t allowed to travel to the west for his lectures

    • the audience can see, as they could with Jerska and the employee who made a joke, that acting against the regime gets people punished

    • Dreyman calls Hauser “arrogant”, mirroring what Wiesler said in the first scene, when he told his students that people rebelling against the regime were often arrogant

  • nighttime watcher is eating on the job, leaned back in chair etc.

    • not as diligent as Wiesler

Scene 15

  • Wiesler reads Brecht

    • he stole the book from Dreyman

    • it is probably his first time encountering West German literature

    • Dreyman dictates the piece (?), which reflects how insight into Dreyman’s life is helping Wiesler to change as a person

Scene 16

  • Wiesler reacts to Jerska’s suicide alongside Dreyman

    • shows how invested in the artist’s lives he is

  • Dreyman is crestfallen — he can now feel the full effect of the regime as it lead to the death of his friend

  • arc shot of Wiesler listening to the sonata

  • Lenin quote

    • inspired film

Scene 17

  • parallels other scene of Wiesler in the elavator

  • elavators=transient, liminal

    • they go between places

      • placing the scene in an elevator could be in order to symbolise his change

  • first time Wiesler takes action against the regime/what he should be doing as a stasi officer

Scene 18

Scene 19

  • Grubitz banned Hauser from the cultural conference just to provoke Dreyman

    • this is because he is desperate to find him due to pressure from Hempf    

      • demonstrates how he is willing to penalise people just to gain power

Scene 20

  • Dreyman asks Christa to not go to Hempf

    • “Du brauchst ihn nicht”

      • Christa asks “Brauchte ich ihn nicht?”

        • she forces Dreyman to confront his inaction and how he goes along with the regime to be able to do what he wants

    • builds up to him writing the suicide article in opposition to the regime

  • Wiesler does not write what they are saying

    • he even holds onto the headphones so that the next observer can’t hear them   

      • he is now actively protecting Dreyman and CMS, even lying about where CMS is going

      • just as Dreyman says that he wants to change, we can see that Wiesler has also changed

        • die Nebenwandlung

  • after leaving, Wiesler stands outside of the door for a moment

    • his expression conveys that he is way out of his depth and is questioning a lot about himself right now

  • he can’t stop looking at the building while he is walking

    • worried/scared over the consequences of his actions

Scene 21

  • Wiesler subtly encourages CMS to stop seeing Hempf and to listen to Dreyman

    • “viele Menschen lieben Sie, weil Sie sind wie Sie sind”

      • “viele Menschen” i.e. Dreyman and her friends, who would stand by her

  • CMS takes of sunglasses

    • no longer hiding? decided to go back to Dreyman

Scene 22

  • article read through voiceover over the funeral

    • emphasises how real and personal the article is for Dreyman

    • Jerska was blacklisted for speaking up against the regime

      • Dreyman is doing the same in his memory — keeping his ideas/spirit alive?

    • Dreyman ends the v/o saying he wants to talk about Jerska

      • it is fairly safe to assume that he goes on to talk about how Jerska was banned from directing over one comment, which drove him to suicide

        • this would be quite a big change in Dreyman’s character, as he used to be afraid of speaking out because he would lose his job

Scene 23

  • Dreyman says he and Hauser can meet in his apartment since Hauser’s is bugged

    • this creates dramatic irony as we the audience know that Wiesler has been listening in on Dreyman for some time now

  • They arrange to meet at the Soviet war memorial

Scene 24

  • they don’t say what the article is about out loud

    • shows how fearful they are of the stasi listening

      • further creates dramatic irony as we know that Wiesler has been not only listening in on them but also covering up Dreyman encouraging Christa to not see Hempf

      • shows how pervasive the stasi were and how they listened in everywhere, even at a war memorial

  • “meine Wohnung ist sauber, ich sage so”

    • no it isn’t

Scene 25

  • we see Wiesler caught between helping Dreyman and doing his job

    • calls Dreyman “mein Freund”

      • he has never met Dreyman, so the fact he sees him as a friend shows how invested in his life he has become as a result of the surveilance

        • it also shows how he has no real connections really

Scene 26

  • Wiesler begins the lie of the anniversary play

  • Dreyman gets new typewriter

    • symbolism for rebelling

  • champagne cork hits the bugging

    • this causes a loud noise in Wiesler’s headphones

      • symbolises how fancy drinks and parties weren’t permitted?

      • symbolises how Wiesler is torn between helping them and reporting on them as a member of the Stasi?

      • symbolises how Wiesler is risking his job by helping them?

      • emphasises how ignorant they are of the fact that they are being surveyed

Scene 27

  • Wiesler unzips his jacket

    • his costume symbolised uniformity, conformity, authority and strictness

      • unzipping it shows him moving away from the stasi and rebelling

    • it becomes more similar to Dreyman’s open coats/jackets

  • Grubitz is in uniform

    • lots of badges/medals/awards on jacket

      • represents how powerful he is now

  • Grubitz talks about the specific ways to punish ‘subversive artists’

    • this makes Wiesler fearful for Dreyman

    • it shows how intricately the stasi/SED/regime plan how to punish people, emphasising their villainy

    • he says ‘without any force’ while talking about imprisoning and isolating people (which is torture)

      • shows how desensitised he is; he doesn’t care about how it affects people as long as he stays in power

  • “Projekte geht es nicht um Noten, sondern Erfolg”

    • sums up the differences between Grubitz and Wiesler well; Wiesler was reporting on people for the stasi out of actual suspision whereas Grubitz was there to be successful and gain status

      • reflects the corruption of the stasi: push factor for Wiesler’s self-rescue

Scene 28

  • cross cutting between shots with similar camera movement of Wiesler and Dreyman

    • arc shots —> they have both reached major turning points in their lives

    • draws parallels between them — both of them have become braver in their rebellion

  • red ink fingerprint on the article

    • fingerprints are unique per person so if it was found Dreyman could easily be caught

      • shows how trusting he is that the apartment isn’t bugged

      • represents the idea that art is intrinsically linked to it’s artist

        • he made the article because he had something he wanted to say, therefore no matter if he uses a fake name or not, the article will always reflect a part of him

  • Christa catches him hiding the typewriter

    • he is hiding secrets from her, just like how she hid things from him

  • news report of the article

Scene 29

  • graphologist/typewriter expert

    • shows the extent the stasi will go to to find who they are after

    • he knows off the top of his head the exact model of Hauser’s typewriter

      • shows how much of Hauser’s life they infiltrated because his views conflicted with their party’s interests

Scene 30

  • Hempf using his leverage against Christa when she stops doing what he wants

    • shows how corrupt the government is as they will collect information as you so the second you act out of allignment with how they want you to act, they ruin you

Scene 31

  • we see that Grubitz has taken the choice of ruining Christa

    • this shows that he has no morals and will destroy someone’s life just to gain the favour of higher ups

Scene 32

  • Grubitz asks Christa what actors do when they can’t act

    • mirrors Jerska asking Dreyman what directors do when they can’t direct

      • foreshadows Christa’s suicide?

Scene 33

  • aren’t careful with Dreyman’s things

    • not very shield

  • the stasi officer puts down the West German book when he finds out it was from Margot Honecker

    • shows him trying to appeal to power — corruption

  • Grubitz speaks to Wiesler in a less personal way than towards the beginning of the film

    • they have grown apart, as Grubitz has become more powerhungry and Wiesler has become more rebellious

Scene 34

  • Dreyman still trusts CMS

    • just like how he trusts that his apartment isn’t bugged

      • FATAL FLAW

Scene 35

Wiesler sits in the suspect’s chair

  • reflects Grubitz’s suspicions of him

  • reflects how he too is a ‘traitor of the regime’ like CMS and Dreyman

  • reflects how Grubitz etc. use there power over him to get what they want just like they do with CMS and the other artists

Scene 36

  • when Wiesler and Grubitz are talking, they are on opposite sides of the frame and visibly theres kind of a line between them

    • they are on different sides now; Wiesler is no longer working with the stasi

  • “Bist du noch an der richtigen Seite?”

    • both have different views on what the ‘right side’ is

      • Wiesler answers “Ja” because he IS on the right side, just not the side that Grubitz means

        • Wiesler is fully commiting to his rebellion against the regime

  • he turns around to show CMS he is the man from the pub

    • he wants her to trust that he is on her side, and will try to help her

    • she looks away from him

      • she feels ashamed, because after meeting him she tried to be true to herself and stop seeing Hempf, and stay with Dreyman, but now she has betrayed Dreyman for her own safety

  • he tells her to save herself

    • he is trying to tell her that he will help clear Dreyman’s name, but in a way that Grubitz cannot detect

    • double meanings are laced throughout the scene — but does Christa interpret them as Wiesler intends?

  • ‘Dreyman wird nie etwas erfahren’ — foreshadows how Dreyman only finds out about the spying at the end?

  • Wiesler can sketch out the floorplan from memory

    • shows his diligence as a stasi officer

Scene 37

  • Wiesler is hiding behind the door as Dreyman goes through

    • the audience can start to piece together what he has done

    • reflects how his spying has gone unnoticed the whole time — protecting Dreyman from out of sight

  • Christa showers when she gets back

    • mirrors when she got back after seeing Hempf

      • trying to wash away what happened

  • Christa looks out onto the road

    • she sees that a car is coming before she goes

Scene 38

Scene 39

Scene 40

Scene 41 (?)

  • red ink fingerprint]

    • parrallels Dreyman earlier in the film

      • similarly, Wiesler is intrinsically linked with the rebellion against the regime, even if no-one knew

Scene 42

Scene 43