Benicassim and the lives of wire tappers

Back from FIB (still no idea what that stands for) a music festival on the coast of Spain, not far from Valencia. Had a hot and sunny four days with a motley crew of festival go-ers, around 70,000 in total. The ever lovely Herman Dune were perhaps my favourite, and contrary to the rather short stage slots at the Latitude the weekend before, this time they played for around an hour. Here’s my favourite video of theirs, if I hadn’t posted it before. [](http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.addToProfileConfirm&videoid=1470654607&title=Herman Dune I Whish That I Could See You Soon \(final version\))

Some film comment. Not long ago I was recommended a film called The Conversation by some eager sound engineers I worked with. Their comments were based around the funny, fictional and (to them) clearly implausible apparatus the wire tapper employed in this 70’s film, but also of it’s merits as a suspenseful psychological thriller. Starring Gene Hackman as a withdrawn and isolated professional surveillance operator, when a wire tapping job of a young couple appears to lead to a murder plot, he has a crisis of confidence and becomes involved. Tailed by his employer’s stooge, a very surly and sinister Harrison Ford, he risks his considerable professional career, and moral objectivity to try and prevent a crime. Gripping viewing, and has a couple of incredibly memorable scenes including the hilarious surveillance specialist convention, where new wild and wonderful gadgets are demonstrated., and the final scene which I won’t spoil, but was the most visually powerful depiction of Gene Hackman’s characters’ shredded psyche. Fantastic.

So, another recommendation from a camp site buddy at Benicassim lead me to The Lives of Others, a film about a playwright in 1984’s paranoid socialist DDR, and the Stasi agent who is assigned to monitor him. With similar themes, this is a brilliantly executed, and fully captures the atmosphere of East Germany during the DDR, including the ever present Trabants belching smoke into grey empty streets. Despite a slow start, the acting and storytelling are superb , direction is thoughtful, unhurried and free of cliche.

Most impressive is the wire tapper, Stasi officer Wiesler, played by Ulrich Mühe. As with Gene Hackman’s character, Wiesler appears cold and commited but finds sympathy with the struggling playwright and cannot maintain his professional distance. The struggle between his humanity and requirements of his post, espcially in those times, were palpable. I discovered the actor had begun his career in the DDR, in theatre, and when asked how he prepared for his role, Mühe responded, “I remembered.”.

The Lives of Others won an Oscar in 2006 for best foreign language film, and Mühe won an Oscar for his performance. Sadly, as I found out from researching the film today, Ulrich Mühe died last weekend from cancer aged only 54.

The Lives of Others may still be playing in some cinemas in the UK. Highly recommended.