The first thing I noticed in The Lives of Others about the Stasi officer (whose name escapes me) sent to monitor Dreyman was his jacket. Grey, cold, automaton like, with triangular pockets resembling stars on a uniform, it practically oozes the wrongdoings of the Communist regime. I kept thinking to myself, “How is it that this man, whose expression is so cruel and whose jacket is so menacing can ever be taken for anything other than the Stasi officer he is?”
It was no surprise to me then when, on the two occasions in the film so far in which the Stasi officer performs acts of kindness, his jacket was unzipped. When he went to Christa-Maria to tell her she was a great artist, he was still wearing the jacket and conscious of his place in the regime. However, before entering the Café in which Christa-Maria sat, he had unzipped his jacket. It was as if he was shedding the trappings of the establishment, revealing the normal, feeling human being beneath the cold exterior of his communist windbreaker. This phenomenon occurred again, later in the film, when the officer chose not to file his report on “the Anniversary Play” to his superiors. Clearly, something is afoot.
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