Anecdotes for
Leben der Anderen, Das (2006)

photos

board

trailer

details

• Nicolette Krebitz auditioned for the role of Christa, which eventually went to Martina Gedeck.
  
  
• The film set a record in 2006 for getting the most nominations (11) for the German Film Awards ever.
  
  
• The German DVD of this film was recalled due to some statements director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck made in his audio commentary about the alleged activities of politician Gregor Gysi and actress Jenny Gröllmann as in-official agents (IM) for the "Staatssicherheit" (secret police of former East Germany). New and old revisions of the DVD can be distinguished by a marking on the back spine (old retail/rental: Z4/Z4R, new retail/rental: Z4A/Z4S).
  
  

• The Brecht poem that Wiesler reads is called "Erinnerung an die Marie A.".
  
  
• Ranked 2nd best film of 2007 by Empire magazine, narrowly missing the top spot to The Bourne Ultimatum (2007).
  
  
• All the listening/recording props used in the film are actual Stasi equipment on loan from museums and collectors. The props master had himself spent two years in a Stasi prison and insisted upon absolute authenticity down to the machine used at the end of the film to steam-open up to 600 letters per hour.
  
  
• The entire budget of the film, about 2 million dollars (1.6 million Euro), was possible only because the actors were willing to work for 20% of their customary salary.
  
  
• Director Donnersmarck spent a month translating the screenplay into French and sending it to Gabriel Yared to entice his participation as composer for the film. For the scene in which Dreyman plays the Sonata For A Good Man on piano, Donnersmarck asked Yared to write a composition that in two minutes would turn Hitler away from all the atrocities he later committed. This pivotal scene was the germinal idea around which the original screenplay was conceived and constructed.
  
  
• The cover of the prop Der Spiegel magazine featuring the Dreyman article was designed by the publication specifically for the film.
  
  

Related Links