Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck makes close attention to another person feel dangerous. We rate his patient work with actors highly, especially in The Lives of Others, though his faith in human goodness can make difficult choices look too tidy.
Fi1m perspective
In The Lives of Others (2006), Ulrich Mühe’s Wiesler listens with a face that gives almost nothing away. Donnersmarck lets the smallest suggestion of doubt matter, while keeping the officer’s power over the people he watches unmistakable. We were frightened by Mühe’s concentration, because such close attention feels invasive before anything is done with the information. The tension depends on our studying him as closely as he studies his subjects. We recommend the film warmly for that patience and for the freedom he gives Mühe to make us uneasy.
His feature debut was followed by the English-language thriller The Tourist (2010), starring Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp. It was a turn towards lighter material. Never Look Away (2018), inspired by the life of artist Gerhard Richter, returned to an artist as a central subject. That return fits his recurring interest in art’s capacity to change people.
In The Lives of Others, Sebastian Koch’s ease as playwright Georg Dreyman keeps him from becoming merely an admirable subject for surveillance. Martina Gedeck makes the vulnerability of actress Christa-Maria Sieland uncomfortable to watch, rather than a straightforward request for sympathy. Their work gives us particular people to worry about, which is essential to the thriller. It also exposes Donnersmarck’s occasional eagerness to decide for us where decency lies.
His faith in personal goodness is the larger difficulty. In the debut, concentrating on one person’s conscience can make the wider system of surveillance seem simpler than it is, and the moral choices tidier than the circumstances warrant. We do not want him to abandon hope; we want the writing to resist making it so comfortable. His strongest scenes already show how to do that, by keeping us watching a face whose thoughts we cannot confidently name. Begin with The Lives of Others, and give Mühe the uninterrupted attention the performance requires.
Biography
Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck is a German film director and screenwriter. He wrote and directed the 2006 drama The Lives of Others, his feature debut, which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Born in Cologne in 1973, he studied Russian literature in St Petersburg, philosophy, politics and economics at the University of Oxford, and film directing at the University of Television and Film Munich. He previously made several short films, including Dobermann (1999).
His later features include the 2010 thriller The Tourist and the 2018 drama Never Look Away, for which he also served as producer and screenwriter.
