Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Fade Away
Towards the end of the film (The Lives of Others), I got the feeling that life still continues after one's so called glory days. Wiesel was doing what he loved, working for the government. He loved working for the government because he believed in the government and its ideas. The film shows him doing other mindless jobs, but clearly, the viewer can infer that he is reminiscing on his days while working for the Stasi. Dreyman also thinks back to his days with his girlfriend. Both Wiesel and Dreyman might be nostalgic of the past, but they know that life goes on without it. When I researched The Lives of Others, I found out that the actor who played Wiesel is now dead. It is weird to think that he will forever be gone. The Lives of Others will live on without him though.
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Although Wiesler definitely valued the benefits he once had with the Stasi, I think he knew the consequences of helping Dreyman and Christa-Maria, which would lead him to virtually being unemployed. Therefore, if he was aware of his possible punishment, and was ready to perpetrate the crime, then Wiesler was well against the government's values and ideas. He wanted to do the greater good, to become a good human being again, unless it was for the first time.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Syed's comment, I believe that Wiesler's actions during the film illustrate his transformation from evil to good, and thus this was his first time acting as a "good human". At the beginning of the film, Wiesler marks the name of the student that questions the Stasi's authority, and is initially diligent in the surveillance of Dreyman. As the film progresses, however, the viewer sees Wiesler's transformation through such acts as refraining from asking the child the name of his father and hiding the typewriter. Therefore, Wiesler did not set out to sabotage the surveillance mission of Dreyman in the beginning, but rather had a sort of internal awakening that what both he and the government were doing was wrong, and his conscience told him to protect Dreyman, even at the cost of his own career. Dreyman's novel forever enshrines Wiesler's good deeds, so that he can "live on" as Will put it.
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