Exactly the same word as "The Overheard". This movie won the Oscar. Which one was it?

Ten years ago, a Hong Kong movie "Eavesdropping" received good box office and reputation, thus starting the "Eavesdropping" trilogy. There are two most attractive aspects of this movie. One is that it is pervasive. The latest eavesdropping technology has made many people re-examine the mobile phones around them. The other reveals how vulnerable people are to money. The entire movie is relatively advanced in terms of plot and concept, so it went on to spawn two equally good sequels.

One thing I have always suspected is that Zhuang Wenqiang, the screenwriter of "The Overheard", started writing the script in 2007, and just in 2007, a German film "Das Leben der Anderen" won the award that year. Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, I wonder if Zhuang Wenqiang got inspiration and inspiration from this German film. The English name of this movie is "Other Lives", and the Chinese name is "Eavesdropping Storm".

Relatively speaking, "Eavesdropping" is far superior to "Eavesdropping" in terms of commercialization. The former is more fashionable, modern and fast-paced, while the latter is soothing, restrained and outdated. But in terms of reputation, "The Overheard" is far better than "The Overheard", which is determined by its extraordinary characteristics in several fields.

In other words, "Eavesdropping" is actually a high-quality movie that has been ignored and underestimated by many people.

Story summary: In 1984, Captain Wessler of the East German secret police Stasi took the initiative to undertake the task of monitoring the playwright Dreiman and his live-in girlfriend Sealand. In the process of comprehensive surveillance, Wesler gradually became infected by the lives and emotions of the two artists from a cold-blooded professional agent. He began to enter their lives and re-examine his own career and ethics. In the end, he saved Dreiman at the critical moment. A few years later in unified Germany, Dreman finally discovered this good man who secretly protected himself.

1. Professional field

"Eavesdropping" shows the audience a series of secret work contents of the Stasi in the former East Germany. Although the story takes place in the 1980s, the sense of technology is definitely weaker, but some of the exquisite eavesdropping equipment and work processes are still exciting.

For example, it only takes 20 minutes to set up the entire house monitoring system. Not only is it fast, but the owner of the house has not discovered it for more than ten years. It even secretly masters the information of the neighbors across the door and uses it to intimidate.

The use of suspect interrogation techniques and some methods of determining whether the other party is lying, as well as knowledge of the types of typewriters used by all writers.

The professional content of these special agents makes the audience shudder at the all-pervasive surveillance. It does not show off skills or fashionable high-tech, but relies on meticulous infiltration into life. It shocks the audience more than mobile phones. Monitoring is more powerful.

2. Plot Area

The plot rhythm of "Eavesdropping Storm" is not very fast, but it has a feeling of slow acceleration. The first half of the plot gradually explains the clues such as the relationship between the playwright Dreeman and his celebrity girlfriend, the change of agent Wessler's mentality, and the internal struggle of the Stasi. The main plot of these three people began to gradually penetrate and intensify, reaching the climax of the plot in the last ten minutes.

There are several scenes that are more outstanding: when Weisler first started monitoring, he designed Dreeman to see his girlfriend and Minister Hamp's predicament. Dreeman's tolerance at this time should be great. To Weisler's surprise, this may be the difference between artists and ordinary people.

Dreman and his friends worked together to verify whether they were being monitored. They pretended to talk about putting their friends in the trunk of the car to smuggle out. In fact, the trunk was empty to determine whether Dreman's home was being monitored. Monitored, this section is one of the few light-hearted plots in the film. Wesler gave up reporting on Dreman and his friends at the last moment, but unexpectedly succeeded in allowing Dreman's verification to pass. From then on, he openly held various inappropriate gatherings at his home. This plot is very clever.

The two separate meetings between Weisler and Sealand are two of the most wonderful conversations in the film. For the first time, as an audience member, he urged Sealand not to have a tryst with Minister Hamp again. During this period, he made a pun: "I am your audience."

The second time he saw Sealand again as a Stasi interrogation officer, he speculated that Sealand should not have recognized him, and Weisler again

Come up with the word audience. These two meetings brought about a certain reversal in the plot.

The final climax of the film is reversed many times, especially from Dreeman's perspective. The typewriter used by Dreman to write articles revealing the phenomenon of suicide is his biggest weakness and the key evidence that can lead to his death. The story reaches its climax at the last moment around the hiding place of this typewriter.

The first reversal is that Dreman initially believed that Sealand had not betrayed him, but when the Stasi agents went straight to the floor where he hid his typewriter, he realized that Sealand had betrayed him. He was very angry about this.

The second time was that the Stasi agents did not find the typewriter under the floor. The typewriter had been moved (Weissler did it), and Sealand did not dare to face Dreyman and chose to commit suicide. Dreman believed that he had wronged Zealand. (Actually not innocent)

It was only when he met Minister Hamp for the third time after the reunification of the two Germanys that he learned that he was under comprehensive surveillance. He found countless listening devices and wiring at home. , he fell into deep contemplation and confusion.

For the fourth time, when he found Xilan’s confession in his vast files that he was willing to serve as a secret witness, his understanding of Xilan changed again. It turned out that Xilan had indeed betrayed him, but why did the typewriter Disappeared?

The fifth time he found clues at the end of the Stasi secret report, Agent Wesler helped him. So he went to look for Wesler. When he saw him calmly working as a postman, Dreman changed his mind about meeting. Two years later a new book "Sonata for a Good Man" dedicated to Wessler's codename was published.

The final climax of the film does not have much exaggeration, but if the audience looks at it from Dreyman's perspective, they can fully appreciate the charm of the ups and downs of the plot.

3. The realm of human nature

"The Overheard" is a movie that tests and praises human nature. In this film, bureaucrats like the Stasi and Minister Hamp embody human nature. The dark side, while the protagonists embody the beautiful side of human nature. The most important one is of course Wesler, the Stasi captain.

Weisler's mentality changes have gone through several stages in this film:

The professional cold-blooded stage. At the beginning, his cold-blooded expression when teaching students and his treatment of suspects His ruthlessness portrays the true face of an excellent Stasi agent.

In the budding stage of love, when Wesler saw Sealand performing a play for the first time, his heart aroused, and he took the initiative to take on the task of monitoring Dreman. At this time, Wesler had already mixed a touch of tenderness into his cold-blooded career.

In the stage of human return, by monitoring the lives of the artistic couple Dreman and Sealand, Wesler was gradually attracted to them. Perhaps he has never come into contact with such a suspect in his career, so Wesler is curious at the beginning and then gradually infiltrates himself into the other person's life.

He would steal Dreman's books to read, and was moved to tears when Dreman played the "Good Man Sonata" in memory of his friend who committed suicide.

After Dreman discovered his girlfriend’s secret, his tolerance and the helplessness between the two also moved Wesler.

Weisler gradually recovered his human side in the process of spying on the other party, and he also became an ordinary person and the uncle of his neighbor.

In the beautiful stage of saving, when Dreman was in crisis again and again, Wesler initially concealed and concealed it, until even he could not cover it up, he resolutely chose to go save.

In fact, judging from Wesler's professional ability, he should be able to realize that although his rescue operation was so seamless that his superiors could not find any clues, their superiors would no longer trust him and use him. In this case, he still took the risk to eliminate Dreman's biggest hidden danger. For this he paid the price of his career.

Returning to the calm stage, when the two Germanys were unified and all secret work was over. In such an environment, Wesler chose an ordinary life. He did not mention to anyone that he had saved the great nation. artist, but lives silently alone and enjoys a life with a clear conscience.

Of course, life will reward Wesler. When Dreman's book tribute to Wesler was published, Wesler happily bought a copy. When the clerk asked him if he wanted to give it away, he Another pun: this is for me.

To sum up, "Eavesdropping" has no fashionable technology, no dazzling stars, only old streets and rooms and a suffocating atmosphere. However, this movie uses a well-designed plot to depict the charm of human nature. .