I also thought this movie was very good, but I thought “The Lost City” was better in many ways, not least because of the music. That movie also emphasizes the inevitable repressive actions of an implacable ideology when confronted with artistic creativity and an independent spirit.

For a century, we have been subjected to the continuous yammering of collectivists of every conceivable stripe claiming that the commercialism and profit motive of capitalism destroys and corrupts the true artistic soul. At the same time, the “spiritual superiority” of the mass state and collectivist ideology has been asserted in every artistic sphere.

In truth, as these movies attempt to show, the reality is just the opposite—it is the deadening, lifeless weight of the collective that crushes and warps anyone attempting to create or perform artistically with any integrity.

“The Lives of Others” is a tragedy in the classic sense, as the flaws of the writer and his lady destroy their art, their love, and their lives.

Tatayana, I can understand that the experience of the movie would be different for you. And I suspect you could take no pleasure from it.

Still, it argues that it is the human that opposes the ideological – and in that way the argument is not unlike Orwell’s. Some systems have at their core an acknowledgement of the human and others can only succeed by treating such tendencies like bonsai trees – to be stunted and twisted. Or, indeed, that is a bad metaphor, for to succeed such a regime needs to destroy both a fellow feeling and its individual expression.

I would agree with you except the KGB agent is a mere functionary, not really elite in any way. He was a tool, not a master.

It’s a fine film!