Celebrated by critics as one of the best films of 2007, The Lives Of Others put more bums on seats than you might expect of a German drama. Up-and-coming writer/director Florian Heckel von Donnersmarck is the man behind this "fascinating snapshot" of life behind The Berlin Wall during the 80s. Ulrich Mühe earned plaudits in front of the camera starring as a snooping communist agent.

Describing the inspiration for his script in a 'Making Of' featurette, Donnersmarck explains that it began with a simple image of "a man in a gloomy room listening to a beautiful piece of music that he doesn't want to listen to". That piece of music is Sonata For A Good Man and, as it turn out, that was originally going to be the title of the film (echoing the key moral dilemma). Later on the actors have their say with Georg Dreyman revealing a tough pre-shoot regime of piano lessons - 4 hours of ivory-tickling per day. Even more unsettling is the bombshell dropped by Ulrich Mühe who discovered that the GDR kept a file on him with testimony provided by theatre 'friends' moonlighting as government snitches.

Mühe plays it down in a section of interviews with cast and crew, saying that many more people experienced worse violations of their civil rights. The film's historical consultant reminds us that, actually, Mühe's experience was not uncommon. He calls the GDR system of surveillance "ordinary spying on a high level," with 175,000 active informers employed out of a 17 million population. Dreyman, in his interview, turns out to be a bit of a snitch as well. Despite being friends with Donnersmarck for 10 years, he admits to being "a bit concerned" about his "strength" as a director. Of course he's happy to admit he was wrong.

Nine minutes of deleted and extended scenes are mostly concerned with the sad personal life of Wiesler (Mühe). Besides an extended encounter with a prostitute, there's a Rear Window-esque subplot that finds him peering through binoculars at his neighbours and drawing rash conclusions about what he sees. "No one forced me to take it out," says Donnersmarck in his commentary, instead he came to realise that this bit of intrigue told us what we already knew; ie, Wiesler is a nosey old so-and-so who can't keep his beak out of other people's business.

Listening In

Donnersmarck talks more about story development in a thoughtful and surprisingly upbeat film commentary (thankfully in English!). He throws in a little philosophy as well, quoting Karl Jung, who said something like "every vice and every virtue is contained within every human soul". Apparently this theory came in handy for coaxing a layered performance out of Mühe.

The director also reflects on his working relationship with Thomas Thieme, a well-known theatre actor in Germany whose "bombastic theatrical presence" had to be toned down for the role of Minister Bruno Hempf. It seems Thieme didn't always take kindly to Donnersmarck's notes, however, reportedly insisting, "I know this guy! I lived with these people!"

The antiquated spying equipment of the Stasi is given a QVC-style showcase to round off this engaging extras package. This DVD is a no-brainer for fans of the film and, for anyone else who has a taste for paranoid conspiracy thrillers, you'd hate to think you were missing out, wouldn't you?

EXTRA FEATURES

The Lives Of Others DVD is released on Monday 17th September 2007.