Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 36 (click to see context) from:
* FauxAffablyEvil: Anton Grubitz initially comes across as a likeable if rather cynical bureaucrat who has a friendly relationship with Wiesler. However, it soon becomes apparent that he's nothing more than a ruthless opportunist who thoroughly enjoys abusing his authority and is willing to destroy all those who stand in the way of his lust for more power.
to:
* FauxAffablyEvil: Anton Grubitz initially comes across as a likeable if rather cynical bureaucrat who has a friendly relationship with Wiesler. However, it soon becomes apparent that he's nothing little more than a ruthless opportunist who thoroughly enjoys abusing his authority and is willing to destroy all those who stand in the way of his lust for more power.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 36 (click to see context) from:
* FauxAffablyEvil: Anton Grubitz initially comes across as a likeable if rather cynical bureaucrat who has a friendly relationship with Wiesler. However, it soon becomes apparent that he's ruthless opportunist who thoroughly enjoys abusing his authority at others' expense and is willing to destroy all those who stand in the way of his lust for more power.
to:
* FauxAffablyEvil: Anton Grubitz initially comes across as a likeable if rather cynical bureaucrat who has a friendly relationship with Wiesler. However, it soon becomes apparent that he's nothing more than a ruthless opportunist who thoroughly enjoys abusing his authority at others' expense and is willing to destroy all those who stand in the way of his lust for more power.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 36,38 (click to see context) from:
* FauxAffablyEvil: Anton Grubitz initially comes across as a likeable if rather cynical bureaucrat who has a friendly relationship with Wiesler.
However, it soon becomes apparent that he's ruthless opportunist who thoroughly enjoys abusing his authority at others' expense and is willing
to destroy all those who stand in the way of his lust for more power.
However, it soon becomes apparent that he's ruthless opportunist who thoroughly enjoys abusing his authority at others' expense and is willing
to destroy all those who stand in the way of his lust for more power.
to:
* FauxAffablyEvil: Anton Grubitz initially comes across as a likeable if rather cynical bureaucrat who has a friendly relationship with Wiesler.
Wiesler. However, it soon becomes apparent that he's ruthless opportunist who thoroughly enjoys abusing his authority at others' expense and is willing
willing to destroy all those who stand in the way of his lust for more power.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* BigBadFriend: Played with and ultimately subverted with Anton Grubitz. Despite initially coming across as a close friend and colleague of Wiesler, it soon becomes apparent that Grubitz views Wiesler as little more than a tool for his own political advancement.
Added DiffLines:
* FauxAffablyEvil: Anton Grubitz initially comes across as a likeable if rather cynical bureaucrat who has a friendly relationship with Wiesler.
However, it soon becomes apparent that he's ruthless opportunist who thoroughly enjoys abusing his authority at others' expense and is willing
to destroy all those who stand in the way of his lust for more power.
However, it soon becomes apparent that he's ruthless opportunist who thoroughly enjoys abusing his authority at others' expense and is willing
to destroy all those who stand in the way of his lust for more power.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 18 (click to see context) from:
* BigBadDuumvirate: Minister of Culture Bruno Hempf and Wiesler's superior, Anton Grubitz, who both personify the pervasive corruption and moral apathy sustaining the German Democratic Republic's authoritarian system.
to:
* BigBadDuumvirate: Minister of Culture Bruno Hempf and Wiesler's superior, Anton Grubitz, who both personify the pervasive corruption and moral apathy sustaining the German Democratic Republic's East Germany's authoritarian system.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 18 (click to see context) from:
* BigBadDuuimvirate: Minister of Culture Bruno Hempf and Wiesler's superior, Oberstleutnant Anton Grubitz, who both personify the pervasive corruption and moral apathy sustaining the German Democratic Republic's authoritarian system.
to:
* BigBadDuuimvirate: BigBadDuumvirate: Minister of Culture Bruno Hempf and Wiesler's superior, Oberstleutnant Anton Grubitz, who both personify the pervasive corruption and moral apathy sustaining the German Democratic Republic's authoritarian system.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* BigBadDuuimvirate: Minister of Culture Bruno Hempf and Wiesler's superior, Oberstleutnant Anton Grubitz, who both personify the pervasive corruption and moral apathy sustaining the German Democratic Republic's authoritarian system.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* {{Dedication}}: In-story example: Dreyman dedicates his latest novel "To HGW XX/7, with gratitude".
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* IgnoredVitalNewsReports: Towards the end of the film, Grubitz tosses a newspaper into the backseat of his car. The headline announces that Mikhail Gorbachev has become the Premier of the USSR.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* WhamLine: When Dreyman states he didn't think he was being watched, Hempf practically laughs at the statement, telling him to go see for himself.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 49 (click to see context) from:
* RealitySubtext: Many people involved in the filmmaking had a history with East Germany, having lived there, having had relatives living there and having been, naturally, spied on by Stasi agents. Notably the film's star, Ulrich Mühe, was under surveillance and later found out that his (then) ''wife'' was a registered informant on him.
to:
* RealitySubtext: Many people involved in the filmmaking had a history with East Germany, having lived there, having had relatives living there and having been, naturally, spied on by Stasi agents. Notably the film's star, Ulrich Mühe, was under surveillance and later found out that his (then) ''wife'' was a registered informant on him. him.
** Von Donnersmarck wrote the role specifically for Mühe - it ended up being his command performance as he died not long after the film was released.
** Von Donnersmarck wrote the role specifically for Mühe - it ended up being his command performance as he died not long after the film was released.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 38 (click to see context) from:
** The Stasi are keeping surveillance on [[Film/TheBaaderMeinhofComplex Ulrike Meinof]], even though she should have died a few years earlier.
to:
** The Stasi are keeping surveillance on [[Film/TheBaaderMeinhofComplex Ulrike Meinof]], Meinhof]], even though she should have died a few years earlier.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 38 (click to see context) from:
** The Stasi are keeping surveillance on [[TheBaaderMeinhofComplex Ulrike Meinof]], even though she should have died a few years earlier.
to:
** The Stasi are keeping surveillance on [[TheBaaderMeinhofComplex [[Film/TheBaaderMeinhofComplex Ulrike Meinof]], even though she should have died a few years earlier.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
** The Stasi are keeping surveillance on [[TheBaaderMeinhofComplex Ulrike Meinof]], even though she should have died a few years earlier.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 38 (click to see context) from:
* KarmaHoudini: After coercing Christa into sex she was clearly repulsed by and vindictively ruining hers and other peoples' lives, not much happens to Minister Hempf. Sure, he loses power after the fall of the Berlin Wall but he doesn't seem too bad off.-- In the film commentary, the director points out that this is [[TruthInTelevision based in reality]], as many of the Eastern German bigwigs landed on their feet after the fall of the BerlinWall.
to:
* KarmaHoudini: After coercing Christa into sex she was clearly repulsed by and vindictively ruining hers and other peoples' lives, not much happens to Minister Hempf. Sure, he loses power after the fall of the Berlin Wall but he doesn't seem too bad off.-- In the film commentary, the director points out that this is [[TruthInTelevision based in reality]], as many of the Eastern East German bigwigs landed on their feet after the fall of the BerlinWall.
Changed line(s) 41 (click to see context) from:
* LookBothWays: [[spoiler: Maria-Christa's death]].
to:
* LookBothWays: [[spoiler: Maria-Christa's Christa-Maria's death]].
Changed line(s) 43,44 (click to see context) from:
* MoodWhiplash: Wiesler listening intently in on Dreyman asking Christa not to leave is a truly touching scene, as it shows he's starting to care about them. Then Ubo bursts in to take over the shift and: "Let me guess what they're doing..." [makes humping gestures]
* TheMuse: Maria-Christa to Dreyman.
* TheMuse: Maria-Christa to Dreyman.
to:
* MoodWhiplash: Wiesler listening intently in on Dreyman asking Christa not to leave is a truly touching scene, as it shows he's starting to care about them. Then Ubo Udo bursts in to take over the shift and: "Let me guess what they're doing..." [makes humping gestures]
* TheMuse:Maria-Christa Christa-Maria to Dreyman.
* TheMuse:
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 8,9 (click to see context) from:
The film takes place in state-socialist EastGermany and tells the story of Captain Gerd Wiesler, a stoic officer of the SecretPolice, Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (also known as TheStasi). His job is to find and interrogate "enemies of socialism", people with Western sympathies or just plain wrong opinions. He is ordered by friend and superior Anton Grubitz to carry out a spying operation against playwright Georg Dreyman, whom they suspect is not what he seems. Wiesler and his men install numerous microphones in Dreyman's apartment, and his life is filled with sitting in the attic, listening in on Dreyman and his girlfriend, actress Christa-Maria Sieland.
to:
The film takes place in state-socialist EastGermany and tells the story of Captain Gerd Wiesler, Wiesler (Ulrich Mühe), a stoic officer of the SecretPolice, Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (also known as TheStasi). His job is to find and interrogate "enemies of socialism", people with Western sympathies or just plain wrong opinions. He is ordered by friend and superior Anton Grubitz to carry out a spying operation against playwright Georg Dreyman, whom they suspect is not what he seems. Wiesler and his men install numerous microphones in Dreyman's apartment, and his life is filled with sitting in the attic, listening in on Dreyman and his girlfriend, actress Christa-Maria Sieland.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
no such trope
Deleted line(s) 33 (click to see context) :
* EffectiveImmediately: Wiesler's demotion.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
important distinction
Changed line(s) 8,9 (click to see context) from:
The film takes place in socialist EastGermany and tells the story of Captain Gerd Wiesler, a stoic officer of the SecretPolice, Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (also known as TheStasi). His job is to find and interrogate "enemies of socialism", people with Western sympathies or just plain wrong opinions. He is ordered by friend and superior Anton Grubitz to carry out a spying operation against playwright Georg Dreyman, whom they suspect is not what he seems. Wiesler and his men install numerous microphones in Dreyman's apartment, and his life is filled with sitting in the attic, listening in on Dreyman and his girlfriend, actress Christa-Maria Sieland.
to:
The film takes place in socialist state-socialist EastGermany and tells the story of Captain Gerd Wiesler, a stoic officer of the SecretPolice, Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (also known as TheStasi). His job is to find and interrogate "enemies of socialism", people with Western sympathies or just plain wrong opinions. He is ordered by friend and superior Anton Grubitz to carry out a spying operation against playwright Georg Dreyman, whom they suspect is not what he seems. Wiesler and his men install numerous microphones in Dreyman's apartment, and his life is filled with sitting in the attic, listening in on Dreyman and his girlfriend, actress Christa-Maria Sieland.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 21 (click to see context) from:
* BrickJoke: Early on in the film, a young Stasi officer makes a politically dangerous joke in front of his superiors. [[spoiler: After Wiesler is ReassignedToAntactica in the letter-opening room, the same character informs him the wall has come down]].
to:
* BrickJoke: Early on in the film, a young Stasi officer makes a politically dangerous joke in front of his superiors. [[spoiler: After Wiesler is ReassignedToAntactica ReassignedToAntarctica in the letter-opening room, the same character informs him the wall has come down]].
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 20 (click to see context) from:
* BlackmailIsSuchAnUglyWord: Dreyman should be careful about using it.
to:
* BlackmailIsSuchAnUglyWord: Dreyman should be careful about using it. it.
* BrickJoke: Early on in the film, a young Stasi officer makes a politically dangerous joke in front of his superiors. [[spoiler: After Wiesler is ReassignedToAntactica in the letter-opening room, the same character informs him the wall has come down]].
* BrickJoke: Early on in the film, a young Stasi officer makes a politically dangerous joke in front of his superiors. [[spoiler: After Wiesler is ReassignedToAntactica in the letter-opening room, the same character informs him the wall has come down]].
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* ReassignedToAntarctica: [[spoiler:Wiesler is demoted to Department M (steaming open letters in a dark basement) for obstructing the Dreyman operation. The reason he's reassigned rather than fired, imprisoned, or executed is that Grubitz couldn't prove anything--and even if he could, it would implicate Grubitz himself.]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 17 (click to see context) from:
* AntiHero: Wiesler is either that or, if you think of him as a VillainProtagonist, an AntiVillain.
to:
* AntiHero: Wiesler is either that or, if you think of him as a VillainProtagonist, an AntiVillain.working for the bad guys, but the story is about his journey into heroism.
Changed line(s) 20 (click to see context) from:
* BlackmailIsSuchAnUglyWord, and Dreyman should be careful about using it. [[BlatantLies Because it doesn't happen in this country. Not at all, nope.]]
to:
* BlackmailIsSuchAnUglyWord, and BlackmailIsSuchAnUglyWord: Dreyman should be careful about using it. [[BlatantLies Because it doesn't happen in this country. Not at all, nope.]]
Changed line(s) 25,26 (click to see context) from:
* DoubleEntendre: Non-sexual example:
--> [[spoiler: Wiesler: "No, [the book] is for me." Said book being written by Dreyman]] with the quote in CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming.
--> [[spoiler: Wiesler: "No, [the book] is for me." Said book being written by Dreyman]] with the quote in CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming.
to:
* DoubleEntendre: Non-sexual example:
-->example, [[spoiler: Wiesler: Wiesler asks if the book he is buying is a gift. He replies, "No, [the book] is it's for me." Said book being written by Dreyman]] with the quote in CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming."]]
-->
Changed line(s) 47,48 (click to see context) from:
* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: [[CaptainObvious Obviously.]] Wiesler goes against the state to protect Georg and Christa and [[spoiler: ends up demoted to opening letters in a cellar.]] Also, Wiesler choosing not to report the gold Mercedes smuggling attempt turns out to backfire on the people he was trying to help.
* PetTheDog: Wiesler gets in an elevator, and a plastic ball bounces in, followed by the little boy who owns the ball. The boy asks if Wiesler is really a Stasi member, and clarifies that "They're bad men who put men in jail, says my dad." To which Wiesler responds, "What's the name of your... [[LastSecondWordSwap ball]]?"
* PetTheDog: Wiesler gets in an elevator, and a plastic ball bounces in, followed by the little boy who owns the ball. The boy asks if Wiesler is really a Stasi member, and clarifies that "They're bad men who put men in jail, says my dad." To which Wiesler responds, "What's the name of your... [[LastSecondWordSwap ball]]?"
to:
* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: [[CaptainObvious Obviously.]] Wiesler goes against the state to protect Georg and Christa and [[spoiler: ends up demoted to opening letters in a cellar.]] Also, Wiesler choosing not to report the gold Mercedes smuggling attempt turns out to backfire on the people he was trying to help.
* PetTheDog: Wiesler gets in an elevator, and a plastic ball bounces in, followed by the little boy who owns the ball. The boy asks if Wiesler is really a Stasi member,and clarifies that saying, "They're bad men who put men in jail, says my dad." To which Wiesler responds, "What's the name of your... [[LastSecondWordSwap ball]]?"
* PetTheDog: Wiesler gets in an elevator, and a plastic ball bounces in, followed by the little boy who owns the ball. The boy asks if Wiesler is really a Stasi member,
Changed line(s) 51,52 (click to see context) from:
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Wiesler and (eventually) everyone else in the office's reaction to the news that the [[BerlinWall Wall]] had opened. Meta-justified in, with the Wall fallen, it would have only been a matter of time before they were told to leave their posts.
* SecretPolice: Duh, Stasi.
* SecretPolice: Duh, Stasi.
to:
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Wiesler and (eventually) everyone else in the office's reaction to the news that the [[BerlinWall Wall]] BerlinWall had opened. Meta-justified in, with With the Wall fallen, it would have only been a matter of time before they were told to leave their posts.
* SecretPolice:Duh, Stasi.The Stasi for East Germany.
* SecretPolice:
Changed line(s) 54,55 (click to see context) from:
** For example, all the spying equipment is authentic, brought from museums. Even the machine they use to steam envelopes open.
** As well the last scenes with Dreyman looking up his old surveillance files.
** As well the last scenes with Dreyman looking up his old surveillance files.
to:
** For example, all All the spying equipment is authentic, brought from museums. Even the machine they use to steam envelopes open.
**As well the The last scenes with Dreyman looking up his old surveillance files.
**
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Remove word refering to old location of a trope (moved to YMMV)
Changed line(s) 26 (click to see context) from:
--> [[spoiler: Wiesler: "No, [the book] is for me." Said book being written by Dreyman]] with the above quote in CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming.
to:
--> [[spoiler: Wiesler: "No, [the book] is for me." Said book being written by Dreyman]] with the above quote in CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
* TheAtoner: Wiesler.
Changed line(s) 31 (click to see context) from:
* DrivenToSuicide: Jerska, [[spoiler: possibly Christa-Maria as well]]
to:
* DrivenToSuicide: Jerska, Jerska [[spoiler: possibly Christa-Maria as well]]and Christa-Maria.]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 8,9 (click to see context) from:
The film takes place in socialist EastGermany and tells the story of Captain Gerd Wiesler, a stoic officer of the secret police, Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (also known as Stasi). His job is to find and interrogate "enemies of socialism", people with Western sympathies or just plain wrong opinions. He is ordered by friend and superior Anton Grubitz to carry out a spying operation against playwright Georg Dreyman, whom they suspect is not what he seems. Wiesler and his men install numerous microphones in Dreyman's apartment, and his life is filled with sitting in the attic, listening in on Dreyman and his girlfriend, actress Christa-Maria Sieland.
to:
The film takes place in socialist EastGermany and tells the story of Captain Gerd Wiesler, a stoic officer of the secret police, SecretPolice, Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (also known as Stasi).TheStasi). His job is to find and interrogate "enemies of socialism", people with Western sympathies or just plain wrong opinions. He is ordered by friend and superior Anton Grubitz to carry out a spying operation against playwright Georg Dreyman, whom they suspect is not what he seems. Wiesler and his men install numerous microphones in Dreyman's apartment, and his life is filled with sitting in the attic, listening in on Dreyman and his girlfriend, actress Christa-Maria Sieland.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 37 (click to see context) from:
** [[{{Downfall}} Martin Bormann]] also seems to be doing pretty well for himself in East Germany.
to:
** [[{{Downfall}} [[Film/{{Downfall}} Martin Bormann]] also seems to be doing pretty well for himself in East Germany.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Standard formatting.
Changed line(s) 45,54 (click to see context) from:
* NeverTrustATrailer - The theatrical trailer played up the suspense of living under surveillance and pressure in a socialist state. The "Stasi agent comes to care about his targets and goes to extreme lengths to protect them" angle wasn't that clear.
* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: [[CaptainObvious Obviously.]] Wiesler goes against the state to protect Georg and Christa and [[spoiler: ends up demoted to opening letters in a cellar.]]
** Also, Wiesler choosing not to report the gold Mercedes smuggling attempt turns out to backfire on the people he was trying to help.
* PetTheDog - Wiesler gets in an elevator, and a plastic ball bounces in, followed by the little boy who owns the ball. The boy asks if Wiesler is really a Stasi member, and clarifies that "They're bad men who put men in jail, says my dad." To which Wiesler responds, "What's the name of your... [[LastSecondWordSwap ball]]?"
* RealitySubtext - Many people involved in the filmmaking had a history with East Germany, having lived there, having had relatives living there and having been, naturally, spied on by Stasi agents.
** The film's star, Ulrich Mühe, was under surveillance and later found out that his ''then wife'' was a registered informant on him.
* RousseauWasRight - The whole point of the movie.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere - Wiesler and (eventually) everyone else in the office's reaction to the news that the [[BerlinWall Wall]] had opened. Meta-justified in, with the Wall fallen, it would have only been a matter of time before they were told to leave their posts.
* SecretPolice - duh, Stasi.
* ShownTheirWork - For example, all the spying equipment is authentic, brought from museums. Even the machine they use to steam envelopes open.
* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: [[CaptainObvious Obviously.]] Wiesler goes against the state to protect Georg and Christa and [[spoiler: ends up demoted to opening letters in a cellar.]]
** Also, Wiesler choosing not to report the gold Mercedes smuggling attempt turns out to backfire on the people he was trying to help.
* PetTheDog - Wiesler gets in an elevator, and a plastic ball bounces in, followed by the little boy who owns the ball. The boy asks if Wiesler is really a Stasi member, and clarifies that "They're bad men who put men in jail, says my dad." To which Wiesler responds, "What's the name of your... [[LastSecondWordSwap ball]]?"
* RealitySubtext - Many people involved in the filmmaking had a history with East Germany, having lived there, having had relatives living there and having been, naturally, spied on by Stasi agents.
** The film's star, Ulrich Mühe, was under surveillance and later found out that his ''then wife'' was a registered informant on him.
* RousseauWasRight - The whole point of the movie.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere - Wiesler and (eventually) everyone else in the office's reaction to the news that the [[BerlinWall Wall]] had opened. Meta-justified in, with the Wall fallen, it would have only been a matter of time before they were told to leave their posts.
* SecretPolice - duh, Stasi.
* ShownTheirWork - For example, all the spying equipment is authentic, brought from museums. Even the machine they use to steam envelopes open.
to:
* NeverTrustATrailer - NeverTrustATrailer: The theatrical trailer played up the suspense of living under surveillance and pressure in a socialist state. The "Stasi agent comes to care about his targets and goes to extreme lengths to protect them" angle wasn't that clear.
* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: [[CaptainObvious Obviously.]] Wiesler goes against the state to protect Georg and Christa and [[spoiler: ends up demoted to opening letters in a cellar.]]
**]] Also, Wiesler choosing not to report the gold Mercedes smuggling attempt turns out to backfire on the people he was trying to help.
*PetTheDog - PetTheDog: Wiesler gets in an elevator, and a plastic ball bounces in, followed by the little boy who owns the ball. The boy asks if Wiesler is really a Stasi member, and clarifies that "They're bad men who put men in jail, says my dad." To which Wiesler responds, "What's the name of your... [[LastSecondWordSwap ball]]?"
*RealitySubtext - RealitySubtext: Many people involved in the filmmaking had a history with East Germany, having lived there, having had relatives living there and having been, naturally, spied on by Stasi agents.
** Theagents. Notably the film's star, Ulrich Mühe, was under surveillance and later found out that his ''then wife'' (then) ''wife'' was a registered informant on him.
*RousseauWasRight - RousseauWasRight: The whole point of the movie.
*ScrewThisImOuttaHere - ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Wiesler and (eventually) everyone else in the office's reaction to the news that the [[BerlinWall Wall]] had opened. Meta-justified in, with the Wall fallen, it would have only been a matter of time before they were told to leave their posts.
*SecretPolice - duh, SecretPolice: Duh, Stasi.
*ShownTheirWork - ShownTheirWork:
** For example, all the spying equipment is authentic, brought from museums. Even the machine they use to steam envelopes open.
* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: [[CaptainObvious Obviously.]] Wiesler goes against the state to protect Georg and Christa and [[spoiler: ends up demoted to opening letters in a cellar.
**
*
*
** The
*
*
*
*
** For example, all the spying equipment is authentic, brought from museums. Even the machine they use to steam envelopes open.
Changed line(s) 56 (click to see context) from:
** AcceptableBreaksFromReality - Everything else falls under this, such as a Stasi member performing a HeelFaceTurn and being able to lie (in reality, even the people doing surveillance were under surveillance).
to:
** AcceptableBreaksFromReality - Everything else Much of the rest falls under this, AcceptableBreaksFromReality, such as a Stasi member performing a HeelFaceTurn and being able to lie (in reality, even the people doing surveillance were under surveillance).
Changed line(s) 58 (click to see context) from:
* SilenceIsGolden - Some of the most powerful scenes are the ones with very little spoken dialogue and subtle nuances of emotion.
to:
* SilenceIsGolden - SilenceIsGolden: Some of the most powerful scenes are the ones with very little spoken dialogue and subtle nuances of emotion.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Interesting, but also a digression in regards to the trope at hand.
Changed line(s) 1,2 (click to see context) from:
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_lives_of_others.jpg]]
to:
Changed line(s) 16 (click to see context) from:
* AntiHero: Wiesler, of course.
to:
* AntiHero: Wiesler, Wiesler is either that or, if you think of course. him as a VillainProtagonist, an AntiVillain.
Changed line(s) 19,22 (click to see context) from:
* [[BlackmailIsSuchAnUglyWord Blacklist Is Such An Ugly Word]]: and Dreyman should be careful about using it. [[BlatantLies Because it doesn't happen in this country. Not at all, nope.]]
* ChekhovsGun: The red ink on the secret typewriter rubs off on Dreyman's fingers early in the film when he's hiding it. Towards the end, when he looks at his own records, a red smudged fingerprint on the last transcription page is how he finds out about Wiesler having protected them.
** Well, it's pretty obvious even without the red fingerprint as Dreyman sees that Wielser fabricated many reports to make it look like he is just writing a play. Some of the reports actually describe passages from the play that Wiesler made up, and they are amusingly bad.
* CodeName - All Stasi agents had one. Wiesler is known as HGW XX/7 ('''H'''auptmann '''G'''erd '''W'''iesler and his division). Dreyman is also assigned a codename, "Lazlo", though he only finds out years later when looking up his Stasi files.
* ChekhovsGun: The red ink on the secret typewriter rubs off on Dreyman's fingers early in the film when he's hiding it. Towards the end, when he looks at his own records, a red smudged fingerprint on the last transcription page is how he finds out about Wiesler having protected them.
** Well, it's pretty obvious even without the red fingerprint as Dreyman sees that Wielser fabricated many reports to make it look like he is just writing a play. Some of the reports actually describe passages from the play that Wiesler made up, and they are amusingly bad.
* CodeName - All Stasi agents had one. Wiesler is known as HGW XX/7 ('''H'''auptmann '''G'''erd '''W'''iesler and his division). Dreyman is also assigned a codename, "Lazlo", though he only finds out years later when looking up his Stasi files.
to:
* [[BlackmailIsSuchAnUglyWord Blacklist Is Such An Ugly Word]]: BlackmailIsSuchAnUglyWord, and Dreyman should be careful about using it. [[BlatantLies Because it doesn't happen in this country. Not at all, nope.]]
* ChekhovsGun: The red ink on the secret typewriter rubs off on Dreyman's fingers early in the film when he's hiding it. Towards the end, when he looks at his own records, a red smudged fingerprint on the last transcription pageis how he finds out about Wiesler having protected them.
** Well, it's pretty obvious even without the red fingerprint as Dreyman seestells him that Wielser fabricated many reports to make it look like he is was the file's author who had hidden the typewriter, just writing a play. Some of before the reports actually describe passages from the play that Wiesler made up, and they are amusingly bad.
secret police searched Dreyman's apartment.
*CodeName - CodeName: All Stasi agents had one. Wiesler is known as HGW XX/7 ('''H'''auptmann '''G'''erd '''W'''iesler and his division). Dreyman is also assigned a codename, "Lazlo", though he only finds out years later when looking up his Stasi files.
* ChekhovsGun: The red ink on the secret typewriter rubs off on Dreyman's fingers early in the film when he's hiding it. Towards the end, when he looks at his own records, a red smudged fingerprint on the last transcription page
** Well, it's pretty obvious even without the red fingerprint as Dreyman sees
*
Changed line(s) 25 (click to see context) from:
* DoubleEntendre - Non-sexual example:
to:
* DoubleEntendre - DoubleEntendre: Non-sexual example:
Changed line(s) 27,29 (click to see context) from:
* DramaticIrony - Dreyman is oblivious to the fact that he's being watched 24/7, but the audience isn't.
** Also Christa-Maria's relationship with the minister.
*** As well as Christa-Maria's [[spoiler: confessions to the Stasi.]]
** Also Christa-Maria's relationship with the minister.
*** As well as Christa-Maria's [[spoiler: confessions to the Stasi.]]
to:
* DramaticIrony - DramaticIrony:
** Dreyman is oblivious to the fact that he's being watched 24/7, but the audience isn't.
**Also Christa-Maria's relationship with the minister.
*** As well as ** Christa-Maria's [[spoiler: confessions to the Stasi.]]
** Dreyman is oblivious to the fact that he's being watched 24/7, but the audience isn't.
**
Changed line(s) 31,32 (click to see context) from:
* DrivenToSuicide - Jerska, [[spoiler: possibly Christa-Maria as well]]
** Possibly?
** Possibly?
to:
* DrivenToSuicide - DrivenToSuicide: Jerska, [[spoiler: possibly Christa-Maria as well]]
** Possibly?well]]
** Possibly?
Changed line(s) 34,36 (click to see context) from:
* FanDisservice - both Christa-Maria's sex scene with the minister, and the scene in which Wiesler hires a prostitute and tries in vain to make an emotional connection to her as well as a sexual one.
* HeelFaceTurn - Wiesler.
* HeyItsThatGuy - Volker "Zack" Michalowski cameos as typewriter expert. This unfortunately caused [[{{Narm}} unintended laughter]] among the (German) audience, because he is mainly known for his SketchComedy show. The fact that he used his trademark [[GermanDialects Saxon accent]] also didn't help. ([[BreatherEpisode Or was casting him even intentional?]])
* HeelFaceTurn - Wiesler.
* HeyItsThatGuy - Volker "Zack" Michalowski cameos as typewriter expert. This unfortunately caused [[{{Narm}} unintended laughter]] among the (German) audience, because he is mainly known for his SketchComedy show. The fact that he used his trademark [[GermanDialects Saxon accent]] also didn't help. ([[BreatherEpisode Or was casting him even intentional?]])
to:
* FanDisservice - both FanDisservice: Both Christa-Maria's sex scene with the minister, and the scene in which Wiesler hires a prostitute and tries in vain to make an emotional connection to her as well as a sexual one.
*HeelFaceTurn - HeelFaceTurn: Wiesler.
*HeyItsThatGuy - HeyItsThatGuy:
** Volker "Zack" Michalowski cameos as typewriter expert. This unfortunately caused [[{{Narm}} unintended laughter]] among the (German) audience, because he is mainly known for his SketchComedy show. The fact that he used his trademark [[GermanDialects Saxon accent]] also didn't help. ([[BreatherEpisode Or was casting him even intentional?]])
*
*
** Volker "Zack" Michalowski cameos as typewriter expert. This unfortunately caused [[{{Narm}} unintended laughter]] among the (German) audience, because he is mainly known for his SketchComedy show. The fact that he used his trademark [[GermanDialects Saxon accent]] also didn't help. ([[BreatherEpisode Or was casting him even intentional?]])
Changed line(s) 38,40 (click to see context) from:
* KarmaHoudini - After coercing Christa into sex she was clearly repulsed by and vindictively ruining hers and other peoples' lives, not much happens to Minister Hempf. Sure, he loses power after the fall of the Berlin Wall but he doesn't seem too bad off.
** If you've listened to the film commentary, the director points out that this is Truth in Television. Many of the Eastern German bigwigs landed on their feet after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Also, in the Hempf-Dreyman scene, Hempf was supposed to mention that his son was in politics with one of the far left German parties. The scene was reworked so as not to offend anyone associated with that party.
* KickTheDog - Grubitz's cruel trick on the underling he catches telling a joke about then Chairman Honecker.
** If you've listened to the film commentary, the director points out that this is Truth in Television. Many of the Eastern German bigwigs landed on their feet after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Also, in the Hempf-Dreyman scene, Hempf was supposed to mention that his son was in politics with one of the far left German parties. The scene was reworked so as not to offend anyone associated with that party.
* KickTheDog - Grubitz's cruel trick on the underling he catches telling a joke about then Chairman Honecker.
to:
* KarmaHoudini - KarmaHoudini: After coercing Christa into sex she was clearly repulsed by and vindictively ruining hers and other peoples' lives, not much happens to Minister Hempf. Sure, he loses power after the fall of the Berlin Wall but he doesn't seem too bad off.
** If you've listened tooff.-- In the film commentary, the director points out that this is Truth [[TruthInTelevision based in Television. Many reality]], as many of the Eastern German bigwigs landed on their feet after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Also, in the Hempf-Dreyman scene, Hempf was supposed to mention that his son was in politics with one of the far left German parties. The scene was reworked so as not to offend anyone associated with that party.
BerlinWall.
*KickTheDog - KickTheDog: Grubitz's cruel trick on the underling he catches telling a joke about then Chairman Honecker.
** If you've listened to
*
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Subjective tropes moved to YMMV tab.
Deleted line(s) 35,36 (click to see context) :
* FridgeBrilliance: Dreyman says "my place is safe" to Paul in the park. Sure, he didn't know it, but Wiesler was the one keeping it safe.
** Look carefully at the young man handing Wiesler the earpiece saying "the Wall has fallen." It's the same guy who told the joke in the canteen.
** Look carefully at the young man handing Wiesler the earpiece saying "the Wall has fallen." It's the same guy who told the joke in the canteen.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_lives_of_others.jpg]]
->"Comrades, we must know ''everything''.”
-->--'''Stasi boss Erich Mielke, Ministry head from November 1957 to November 1989'''
''The Lives of Others'' (''Das Leben der Anderen'') is an award-winning German film from 2006. It is the debut film of screenwriter and director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck.
The film takes place in socialist EastGermany and tells the story of Captain Gerd Wiesler, a stoic officer of the secret police, Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (also known as Stasi). His job is to find and interrogate "enemies of socialism", people with Western sympathies or just plain wrong opinions. He is ordered by friend and superior Anton Grubitz to carry out a spying operation against playwright Georg Dreyman, whom they suspect is not what he seems. Wiesler and his men install numerous microphones in Dreyman's apartment, and his life is filled with sitting in the attic, listening in on Dreyman and his girlfriend, actress Christa-Maria Sieland.
Eventually, Wiesler starts to warm up to the couple, noticing how empty and emotionless his own life is. He learns the real reason behind the operation, a jealous minister in love with Christa-Maria trying to get rid of his rival, and is disillusioned by his colleagues' selfish motivations. After the suicide of his director friend Albert Jerska, Dreyman decides to do something about the state's rigid censorship and writes an article about the secret suicide rates of East Germany for Western publications. Wiesler has to take more and more radical measures to protect him while Grubitz becomes increasingly suspicious of him.
''The Lives of Others'' won seven Deutscher Filmpreis awards and the Oscar for Best Foreign Film in 2006. It has been praised for its portrayal of Stasi, its employees and its victims as human beings trapped in an unforgiving dictatorship. Although the story is widely considered [[{{Narm}} narmy]] by actual survivors of Stasi methods (no Stasi agent has ''ever'' been publicly known to regret his actions, let alone help his victims), the film gives a very heartfelt portrayal of life in socialist East Germany.
----
!!Trope examples:
* AntiHero: Wiesler, of course.
* BigBrotherIsEmployingYou
* BookEnds: Dreyman's play that features near the beginning and the end.
* [[BlackmailIsSuchAnUglyWord Blacklist Is Such An Ugly Word]]: and Dreyman should be careful about using it. [[BlatantLies Because it doesn't happen in this country. Not at all, nope.]]
* ChekhovsGun: The red ink on the secret typewriter rubs off on Dreyman's fingers early in the film when he's hiding it. Towards the end, when he looks at his own records, a red smudged fingerprint on the last transcription page is how he finds out about Wiesler having protected them.
** Well, it's pretty obvious even without the red fingerprint as Dreyman sees that Wielser fabricated many reports to make it look like he is just writing a play. Some of the reports actually describe passages from the play that Wiesler made up, and they are amusingly bad.
* CodeName - All Stasi agents had one. Wiesler is known as HGW XX/7 ('''H'''auptmann '''G'''erd '''W'''iesler and his division). Dreyman is also assigned a codename, "Lazlo", though he only finds out years later when looking up his Stasi files.
* CreatorCameo: The voice in the earpiece saying "The Wall has fallen" belongs to Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, the writer and director.
* DistantFinale: The story ends in early 1985 but gets a double epilogue taking place after the fall of Communism.
* DoubleEntendre - Non-sexual example:
--> [[spoiler: Wiesler: "No, [the book] is for me." Said book being written by Dreyman]] with the above quote in CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming.
* DramaticIrony - Dreyman is oblivious to the fact that he's being watched 24/7, but the audience isn't.
** Also Christa-Maria's relationship with the minister.
*** As well as Christa-Maria's [[spoiler: confessions to the Stasi.]]
* DiedInYourArmsTonight: [[spoiler: Christa-Maria dies in Dreyman's]].
* DrivenToSuicide - Jerska, [[spoiler: possibly Christa-Maria as well]]
** Possibly?
* EffectiveImmediately: Wiesler's demotion.
* FanDisservice - both Christa-Maria's sex scene with the minister, and the scene in which Wiesler hires a prostitute and tries in vain to make an emotional connection to her as well as a sexual one.
* FridgeBrilliance: Dreyman says "my place is safe" to Paul in the park. Sure, he didn't know it, but Wiesler was the one keeping it safe.
** Look carefully at the young man handing Wiesler the earpiece saying "the Wall has fallen." It's the same guy who told the joke in the canteen.
* HeelFaceTurn - Wiesler.
* HeyItsThatGuy - Volker "Zack" Michalowski cameos as typewriter expert. This unfortunately caused [[{{Narm}} unintended laughter]] among the (German) audience, because he is mainly known for his SketchComedy show. The fact that he used his trademark [[GermanDialects Saxon accent]] also didn't help. ([[BreatherEpisode Or was casting him even intentional?]])
** [[{{Downfall}} Martin Bormann]] also seems to be doing pretty well for himself in East Germany.
* KarmaHoudini - After coercing Christa into sex she was clearly repulsed by and vindictively ruining hers and other peoples' lives, not much happens to Minister Hempf. Sure, he loses power after the fall of the Berlin Wall but he doesn't seem too bad off.
** If you've listened to the film commentary, the director points out that this is Truth in Television. Many of the Eastern German bigwigs landed on their feet after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Also, in the Hempf-Dreyman scene, Hempf was supposed to mention that his son was in politics with one of the far left German parties. The scene was reworked so as not to offend anyone associated with that party.
* KickTheDog - Grubitz's cruel trick on the underling he catches telling a joke about then Chairman Honecker.
* LonelyPianoPiece: "Sonata For A Good Man". See ManlyTears below.
* LookBothWays: [[spoiler: Maria-Christa's death]].
* ManlyTears: Wiesler crying when he hears "Sonata for a Good Man", showing the start of his HeelFaceTurn.
* MoodWhiplash: Wiesler listening intently in on Dreyman asking Christa not to leave is a truly touching scene, as it shows he's starting to care about them. Then Ubo bursts in to take over the shift and: "Let me guess what they're doing..." [makes humping gestures]
* TheMuse: Maria-Christa to Dreyman.
* NeverTrustATrailer - The theatrical trailer played up the suspense of living under surveillance and pressure in a socialist state. The "Stasi agent comes to care about his targets and goes to extreme lengths to protect them" angle wasn't that clear.
* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: [[CaptainObvious Obviously.]] Wiesler goes against the state to protect Georg and Christa and [[spoiler: ends up demoted to opening letters in a cellar.]]
** Also, Wiesler choosing not to report the gold Mercedes smuggling attempt turns out to backfire on the people he was trying to help.
* PetTheDog - Wiesler gets in an elevator, and a plastic ball bounces in, followed by the little boy who owns the ball. The boy asks if Wiesler is really a Stasi member, and clarifies that "They're bad men who put men in jail, says my dad." To which Wiesler responds, "What's the name of your... [[LastSecondWordSwap ball]]?"
* RealitySubtext - Many people involved in the filmmaking had a history with East Germany, having lived there, having had relatives living there and having been, naturally, spied on by Stasi agents.
** The film's star, Ulrich Mühe, was under surveillance and later found out that his ''then wife'' was a registered informant on him.
* RousseauWasRight - The whole point of the movie.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere - Wiesler and (eventually) everyone else in the office's reaction to the news that the [[BerlinWall Wall]] had opened. Meta-justified in, with the Wall fallen, it would have only been a matter of time before they were told to leave their posts.
* SecretPolice - duh, Stasi.
* ShownTheirWork - For example, all the spying equipment is authentic, brought from museums. Even the machine they use to steam envelopes open.
** As well the last scenes with Dreyman looking up his old surveillance files.
** AcceptableBreaksFromReality - Everything else falls under this, such as a Stasi member performing a HeelFaceTurn and being able to lie (in reality, even the people doing surveillance were under surveillance).
* ShowerOfAngst: Christa-Maria has one after her car ride with the minister.
* SilenceIsGolden - Some of the most powerful scenes are the ones with very little spoken dialogue and subtle nuances of emotion.
* SinisterSurveillance
* TheStoic: Wiesler. He never smiles once in the whole film. The closest he gets is at the very end when he buys Dreyman's book. [[spoiler: "No, it's for me."]]
* WeHaveWaysOfMakingYouTalk: The movie opens with a lecture on this; one student says that their methods are "inhumane" ([[TooDumbToLive which is quite possibly the most idiotic thing that a person could do, given the setting]]). Later [[spoiler: Wiesler does this on Christa-Maria]].
----
->"Comrades, we must know ''everything''.”
-->--'''Stasi boss Erich Mielke, Ministry head from November 1957 to November 1989'''
''The Lives of Others'' (''Das Leben der Anderen'') is an award-winning German film from 2006. It is the debut film of screenwriter and director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck.
The film takes place in socialist EastGermany and tells the story of Captain Gerd Wiesler, a stoic officer of the secret police, Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (also known as Stasi). His job is to find and interrogate "enemies of socialism", people with Western sympathies or just plain wrong opinions. He is ordered by friend and superior Anton Grubitz to carry out a spying operation against playwright Georg Dreyman, whom they suspect is not what he seems. Wiesler and his men install numerous microphones in Dreyman's apartment, and his life is filled with sitting in the attic, listening in on Dreyman and his girlfriend, actress Christa-Maria Sieland.
Eventually, Wiesler starts to warm up to the couple, noticing how empty and emotionless his own life is. He learns the real reason behind the operation, a jealous minister in love with Christa-Maria trying to get rid of his rival, and is disillusioned by his colleagues' selfish motivations. After the suicide of his director friend Albert Jerska, Dreyman decides to do something about the state's rigid censorship and writes an article about the secret suicide rates of East Germany for Western publications. Wiesler has to take more and more radical measures to protect him while Grubitz becomes increasingly suspicious of him.
''The Lives of Others'' won seven Deutscher Filmpreis awards and the Oscar for Best Foreign Film in 2006. It has been praised for its portrayal of Stasi, its employees and its victims as human beings trapped in an unforgiving dictatorship. Although the story is widely considered [[{{Narm}} narmy]] by actual survivors of Stasi methods (no Stasi agent has ''ever'' been publicly known to regret his actions, let alone help his victims), the film gives a very heartfelt portrayal of life in socialist East Germany.
----
!!Trope examples:
* AntiHero: Wiesler, of course.
* BigBrotherIsEmployingYou
* BookEnds: Dreyman's play that features near the beginning and the end.
* [[BlackmailIsSuchAnUglyWord Blacklist Is Such An Ugly Word]]: and Dreyman should be careful about using it. [[BlatantLies Because it doesn't happen in this country. Not at all, nope.]]
* ChekhovsGun: The red ink on the secret typewriter rubs off on Dreyman's fingers early in the film when he's hiding it. Towards the end, when he looks at his own records, a red smudged fingerprint on the last transcription page is how he finds out about Wiesler having protected them.
** Well, it's pretty obvious even without the red fingerprint as Dreyman sees that Wielser fabricated many reports to make it look like he is just writing a play. Some of the reports actually describe passages from the play that Wiesler made up, and they are amusingly bad.
* CodeName - All Stasi agents had one. Wiesler is known as HGW XX/7 ('''H'''auptmann '''G'''erd '''W'''iesler and his division). Dreyman is also assigned a codename, "Lazlo", though he only finds out years later when looking up his Stasi files.
* CreatorCameo: The voice in the earpiece saying "The Wall has fallen" belongs to Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, the writer and director.
* DistantFinale: The story ends in early 1985 but gets a double epilogue taking place after the fall of Communism.
* DoubleEntendre - Non-sexual example:
--> [[spoiler: Wiesler: "No, [the book] is for me." Said book being written by Dreyman]] with the above quote in CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming.
* DramaticIrony - Dreyman is oblivious to the fact that he's being watched 24/7, but the audience isn't.
** Also Christa-Maria's relationship with the minister.
*** As well as Christa-Maria's [[spoiler: confessions to the Stasi.]]
* DiedInYourArmsTonight: [[spoiler: Christa-Maria dies in Dreyman's]].
* DrivenToSuicide - Jerska, [[spoiler: possibly Christa-Maria as well]]
** Possibly?
* EffectiveImmediately: Wiesler's demotion.
* FanDisservice - both Christa-Maria's sex scene with the minister, and the scene in which Wiesler hires a prostitute and tries in vain to make an emotional connection to her as well as a sexual one.
* FridgeBrilliance: Dreyman says "my place is safe" to Paul in the park. Sure, he didn't know it, but Wiesler was the one keeping it safe.
** Look carefully at the young man handing Wiesler the earpiece saying "the Wall has fallen." It's the same guy who told the joke in the canteen.
* HeelFaceTurn - Wiesler.
* HeyItsThatGuy - Volker "Zack" Michalowski cameos as typewriter expert. This unfortunately caused [[{{Narm}} unintended laughter]] among the (German) audience, because he is mainly known for his SketchComedy show. The fact that he used his trademark [[GermanDialects Saxon accent]] also didn't help. ([[BreatherEpisode Or was casting him even intentional?]])
** [[{{Downfall}} Martin Bormann]] also seems to be doing pretty well for himself in East Germany.
* KarmaHoudini - After coercing Christa into sex she was clearly repulsed by and vindictively ruining hers and other peoples' lives, not much happens to Minister Hempf. Sure, he loses power after the fall of the Berlin Wall but he doesn't seem too bad off.
** If you've listened to the film commentary, the director points out that this is Truth in Television. Many of the Eastern German bigwigs landed on their feet after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Also, in the Hempf-Dreyman scene, Hempf was supposed to mention that his son was in politics with one of the far left German parties. The scene was reworked so as not to offend anyone associated with that party.
* KickTheDog - Grubitz's cruel trick on the underling he catches telling a joke about then Chairman Honecker.
* LonelyPianoPiece: "Sonata For A Good Man". See ManlyTears below.
* LookBothWays: [[spoiler: Maria-Christa's death]].
* ManlyTears: Wiesler crying when he hears "Sonata for a Good Man", showing the start of his HeelFaceTurn.
* MoodWhiplash: Wiesler listening intently in on Dreyman asking Christa not to leave is a truly touching scene, as it shows he's starting to care about them. Then Ubo bursts in to take over the shift and: "Let me guess what they're doing..." [makes humping gestures]
* TheMuse: Maria-Christa to Dreyman.
* NeverTrustATrailer - The theatrical trailer played up the suspense of living under surveillance and pressure in a socialist state. The "Stasi agent comes to care about his targets and goes to extreme lengths to protect them" angle wasn't that clear.
* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: [[CaptainObvious Obviously.]] Wiesler goes against the state to protect Georg and Christa and [[spoiler: ends up demoted to opening letters in a cellar.]]
** Also, Wiesler choosing not to report the gold Mercedes smuggling attempt turns out to backfire on the people he was trying to help.
* PetTheDog - Wiesler gets in an elevator, and a plastic ball bounces in, followed by the little boy who owns the ball. The boy asks if Wiesler is really a Stasi member, and clarifies that "They're bad men who put men in jail, says my dad." To which Wiesler responds, "What's the name of your... [[LastSecondWordSwap ball]]?"
* RealitySubtext - Many people involved in the filmmaking had a history with East Germany, having lived there, having had relatives living there and having been, naturally, spied on by Stasi agents.
** The film's star, Ulrich Mühe, was under surveillance and later found out that his ''then wife'' was a registered informant on him.
* RousseauWasRight - The whole point of the movie.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere - Wiesler and (eventually) everyone else in the office's reaction to the news that the [[BerlinWall Wall]] had opened. Meta-justified in, with the Wall fallen, it would have only been a matter of time before they were told to leave their posts.
* SecretPolice - duh, Stasi.
* ShownTheirWork - For example, all the spying equipment is authentic, brought from museums. Even the machine they use to steam envelopes open.
** As well the last scenes with Dreyman looking up his old surveillance files.
** AcceptableBreaksFromReality - Everything else falls under this, such as a Stasi member performing a HeelFaceTurn and being able to lie (in reality, even the people doing surveillance were under surveillance).
* ShowerOfAngst: Christa-Maria has one after her car ride with the minister.
* SilenceIsGolden - Some of the most powerful scenes are the ones with very little spoken dialogue and subtle nuances of emotion.
* SinisterSurveillance
* TheStoic: Wiesler. He never smiles once in the whole film. The closest he gets is at the very end when he buys Dreyman's book. [[spoiler: "No, it's for me."]]
* WeHaveWaysOfMakingYouTalk: The movie opens with a lecture on this; one student says that their methods are "inhumane" ([[TooDumbToLive which is quite possibly the most idiotic thing that a person could do, given the setting]]). Later [[spoiler: Wiesler does this on Christa-Maria]].
----