'Placing respect, compassion and humanity above any ideology,' says German film director
What does it truly mean to understand another human being?
This is the question that lies at the heart of the Korean stage adaptation of “The Lives of Others,” currently running at the LG Arts Center. Based on Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s acclaimed 2006 German film -- which won the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film -- the production marks actor Sohn Sang-gyu’s directorial debut.
Set in 1980s East Germany during the Cold War, the play revolves around Gerd Wiesler, a Stasi officer whose unwavering belief in socialism and meticulous interrogation skills have earned him high praise from the Party. Tasked with spying on playwright Georg Dreyman and his lover, actress Christa-Maria Sieland, Wiesler begins an assignment that will irrevocably change his life.
“Korea and Germany, Seoul and Berlin, have suffered strikingly similar traumas which made me particularly curious about how a Korean producer, director and actors would interpret the material,” said von Donnersmarck in November when he was in Seoul for the premiere.
Staying faithful to the original storyline, the play transforms its cinematic predecessor into a powerful theatrical experience. Whenever Dreyman speaks, the secret police follow him with receivers pressed to their ears, vividly dramatizing constant surveillance. When Dreyman realizes he has been tapped, all the listening devices fall from the ceiling onto the stage.
Donnersmarck once shared that the inspiration for his story came while listening to music and reflecting on how Lenin told a friend that he avoided listening to his favorite piano sonata because it softened his resolve and made him less willing to harm others.
As Wiesler eavesdrops on Dreyman, cracks begin to form in his ideological armor. He witnesses the injustice and oppression suffered by individuals in the name of ideology: the despair of a blacklisted director who ultimately takes his own life, the anger of artists against systemic corruption, and the tender moments between Dreyman and Christa.
These moments, combined with the transformative power of art -- through music and poetry that Wiesler overhears -- gradually weaken his loyalty to the regime and restore his humanity.
In the program book, Donnersmarck writes that the story is about placing respect, compassion and humanity above any ideology, no matter how appealing that ideology may seem.
“We humans are remarkably heedless in how we form our beliefs and convictions. Whether we embrace the left or right, isolationism or globalism, retribution or tolerance, communism or capitalism -- often hinges on mere coincidences in our biographies,” said Donnersmarck.
“All the more reason to do everything in our power to at least avoid hurting other people because their beliefs differ from ours. Because, under other circumstances, they could have been ours.”
“The Lives of Others” runs until Sunday.
hwangdh@heraldcorp.com
