The Lives of Others, a film set in East Germany in the mid 1980's, tells the story of the Stasi, the DDR secret police. Everybody is a suspect, most especially the more liberal people in their society such as actors and playwrights. It is hard to imagine that all of this was taking place just 20 years ago in a nation that had already suffered many injustices under Hitler.
Today we heard on the evening news that six inmates from Guantanamo were formally charged for the September 11 plot. Rumblings of waterboarding torture used on some of the captives rose to the surface as well. The Stasi of the DDR used torture on their captives as well.
It was an interesting conjunction of events as this film from Netflix arrived on the same day today's news. Secret police, secret files, wiretaps, torture rooms, and control of the citizens. The one difference, however, is that in the film there is redemption.
