May 25, 2012

Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck

by MovieMaker Staff | Published February 12, 2007

Many screenwriters attempt to use cinema to give history a human face, but few have done this as well as German screenwriter Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck. His first feature, The Lives of Others, explores the culture of East Berlin during the Cold War, and is a Best Foreign Language Oscar nominee.

After studying in Leningrad and Oxford, von Donnersmarck found his calling in the movie business, with an apprenticeship under Richard Attenborough for 1996â€™s In Love and War. At the Hochschule fÃ¼r Fernsehen und Film in Muchen, he made a number of his own short films before leaving the program to start work on The Lives of Others (ironically, the Hochschule awarded him a diploma for the completion of the film).

The Lives of Others takes place in East Berlin over a span of seven years, beginning in 1984 and continuing to detail the effects of the 1989 falling of the Berlin Wall. It tells the story of a Stasi secret police captain assigned to spy on â€œthe lives of others,â€ and explores the impact of these actions on the captainâ€™s own ideals, and on modern German culture. â€œTo me, what was important was not to lose myself in historical details, but to tell a story about real people with an emotional viewpoint,â€ say von Donnersmarck.

To learn more about this internationally acclaimed movie and its writer-director, visit http://www.sonyclassics.com/thelivesofothers.

Sound Off: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck is garnering praise for his work detailing the lives of people striving to live in a Socialist East Berlin. Somehow, he manages to depict the period as an emotional story rather than an historical one. Is it more effective to provide a straight historical account of an event, or to provide a more intimate take on the repercussions of these events for individual lives? Talk back in the comments section!

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COMMENTS | POST A COMMENT

Comment by Evelyn on 5/14/07 at 8:07 pm

I am honored to be the first to write you a comment. I believe it is great that you used cinema to incorporate an important part of history, such as the cold war. Being that it was such a complicated time in history. I one day hope to achieve such a level of screenwriting. I appluad your talents.

PLEASE RESPOND

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Comment by Nick A on 6/10/07 at 11:02 am

I’m 16 years old and just saw your acclaimed movie last night. Quite bluntly, I thought it was the best piece of cinema I have ever seen. The entire audience was in tears by the beautifully understated ending. I was blown away by your ability to keep a story about East Germany in 1984 so one-dimensionally focused on the personal lives of the characters. I cannot praise you enough for this movie, It was nothing short of brilliant.