Sonata for A Good Man

The Lives of Others is another film that can have a lasting effect. While easy to draw parallels between its story of government spying and our contemporary cries of Big Brother, I think it remains critical to realize that one of our European allies was keeping tabs on its citizens as recently as just 18 years ago. That a government whom we now know to be friendly and modern and civilized was routinely enlisting the help of an absurdly organized Stasi force to squelch the free expression of art.
Characters include the necessary fat-pig bureaucrat, the ass-kissing middle manager, and the easily likable playwright. Yet somehow they don't become caricatures of themselves. The star and unlikely hero is the Stasi officer who moves from paid eavesdropper to fierce protector. A man who is so completely committed to his country's propaganda that he can never imagine changing the pattern of his life to allow familial attachment.
While you know how much I loved Pan's Labyrinth, I was thrilled this movie was chosen as Best Foreign Film at this year's Oscars. It is a lovely story using the stark backdrop of a country still in many peoples' memory to remind us all about the power of emotion and just how much can be accomplished with creative thought.