Review – Two Lives

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3kIHMoymW8&w=600]

Writer/Director Georg Maas‘s (The Buddha Wallah) latest film, Two Lives, is a loose adaptation of Hannelore Hippe’s novel Eiszeiten.

The protagonist of this film, Katrine, played by Juliane Köhler, is leading double lives – one as a loving wife and mother to a Norwegian seaman and the other as an ex-spy who worked for the Stasi. She seems to have created a harmonious life with her family in Norway when the Berlin Wall falls and her past life comes back to haunt her. Caught in a web of lies, lawyers and ex-Stasi spies, she goes through a dramatic chain of events that keep you on the edge of your seats.

Köhler is magnificent in her conflicted character. She portrays the two sides of her with utmost clarity and the audience loves her and hates her at the same time. While the supporting cast are all excellent, there really isn’t a moment where Köhler is not dominating the screen. Georg Maas’s script is dark and engaging and the film’s depiction of the GDR is terrifyingly believable.

Fans of  films like Spy Game and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy will like the lack of action and overpowering drama of this movie.

Two Lives is screening around Australia as part of Audi German Film Festival.