How Does Mr Wiesler Create Tension In The Lives Of Others

The movie “the lives of others” is a German film that takes place in East Berlin, November 1984. Five years before its downfall, the former East-German government ensured its claim to power with a ruthless system of control and surveillance. Party-loyalist Captain Gerd Wiesler hopes to boost his career when given the job of collecting evidence against the playwright Georg Dreyman and his girlfriend, the celebrated theater actress Christa-Maria Sieland. After all, the "operation" is backed by the highest political circles. What he didn't anticipate, however, was that submerging oneself into the world of the target also changes the surveillance agent. The immersion in the lives of others--in love, literature, free thinking and speech--makes Wiesler acutely aware of the meagerness of his own existence and opens to him a completely new way of life which he has ever more trouble resisting. Through out the
Minister Hempf is very adamant and convinced that people do not change their morals, which is absolutely true with almost every character in the film. The only exception to this is Mr. Wiesler. At the begging of the movie Mr. Wiesler is very closed off to emotions. His interrogations during WWII and his teaching of interrogation in class post war are very emotionless. In fact he makes a note of a student who opposes his interrogation methods. The evolution of his morals in the begging of the movie to those at the end is shown in his surveillance reports. When he first begins to listen to conversations in the apartment he is very diligent and accurate in reporting what is going on. His transition is at first subtle such as not wanting to switch shifts with the second agent, or leaving out the details about the minister or her unfaithfulness. As the plot progresses so does his exclusion of details in the reports. When