Comments on: Sonata for a good man http://millrace.wordpress.com/2007/04/15/sonata-for-a-good-man/ by Tchelyzt Tue, 03 Mar 2009 06:39:04 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: aJay... http://millrace.wordpress.com/2007/04/15/sonata-for-a-good-man/#comment-752 aJay... Fri, 25 Apr 2008 06:22:55 +0000 http://millrace.wordpress.com/2007/04/15/sonata-for-a-good-man/#comment-752 Hi folks !!! Defnitly you guys have given all the ways to look at this movie. I am an Indian, and I liked this movie too. Its amazing masterpiece, that has really surfaced the Idealism and the problem of Germany in that time. I have been exposed to both Socialism and now full-throttle Capitalism. But I beleive Idealism will never die. ... Hi folks !!!

Defnitly you guys have given all the ways to look at this movie. I am an Indian, and I liked this movie too. Its amazing masterpiece, that has really surfaced the Idealism and the problem of Germany in that time. I have been exposed to both Socialism and now full-throttle Capitalism. But I beleive Idealism will never die. …

]]> By: tchelyzt http://millrace.wordpress.com/2007/04/15/sonata-for-a-good-man/#comment-746 tchelyzt Mon, 25 Feb 2008 19:55:28 +0000 http://millrace.wordpress.com/2007/04/15/sonata-for-a-good-man/#comment-746 Hi Karl, thanks for your thoughts. Naturally I realise there are sensitive and intelligent Americans and my remarks are not about you or them. I'm commenting on the comparative state of the two film industries and even recognising wryly that yours is making the money. With rare exceptions however, and refer to <a href="http://millrace.wordpress.com/2008/02/09/a-place-to-die/" title="The Savages" rel="nofollow"><i>The Savages</i></a> for a nice counter-example, European films have a better <i>fix</i> on the real world. Personally I think Wiesler didn't talk because having tried a little experiment in tolerance, he found he was too deeply implicated to back out. There's more to it than this, but somehow I was troubled by his motivation for going along with the defection escapade. Hi Karl,
thanks for your thoughts. Naturally I realise there are sensitive and intelligent Americans and my remarks are not about you or them. I’m commenting on the comparative state of the two film industries and even recognising wryly that yours is making the money. With rare exceptions however, and refer to The Savages for a nice counter-example, European films have a better fix on the real world. Personally I think Wiesler didn’t talk because having tried a little experiment in tolerance, he found he was too deeply implicated to back out. There’s more to it than this, but somehow I was troubled by his motivation for going along with the defection escapade.

]]> By: Karl http://millrace.wordpress.com/2007/04/15/sonata-for-a-good-man/#comment-745 Karl Mon, 25 Feb 2008 01:47:23 +0000 http://millrace.wordpress.com/2007/04/15/sonata-for-a-good-man/#comment-745 I'm an American and it certainly is not fair to generilize. I loved the movie and was not disappointed. You know how I can tell if a movie is great or OK? If I don't realize I'm reading the subtitles; as was the case with this movie. I certainly agree with the lines being blurred between good and bad. I do believe it is tough to be good once you go down the path of being bad. It has a tendency to harden one's heart. What Wiesler did at the end gives us hope that even at our worst we can still find our way back. Which is why the book by Dreyman was dedicated to Wiesler. He realized how easy it would have been for Wiesler to turn him in and just be done with it. It took a lot for Wiesler to find his heart again with the probability of prison or death. The movie gives us hope that there is still the possibility of humanity in anyone/everyone. I’m an American and it certainly is not fair to generilize. I loved the movie and was not disappointed. You know how I can tell if a movie is great or OK? If I don’t realize I’m reading the subtitles; as was the case with this movie. I certainly agree with the lines being blurred between good and bad. I do believe it is tough to be good once you go down the path of being bad. It has a tendency to harden one’s heart. What Wiesler did at the end gives us hope that even at our worst we can still find our way back. Which is why the book by Dreyman was dedicated to Wiesler. He realized how easy it would have been for Wiesler to turn him in and just be done with it. It took a lot for Wiesler to find his heart again with the probability of prison or death. The movie gives us hope that there is still the possibility of humanity in anyone/everyone.

]]> By: Anders http://millrace.wordpress.com/2007/04/15/sonata-for-a-good-man/#comment-687 Anders Mon, 10 Dec 2007 06:06:33 +0000 http://millrace.wordpress.com/2007/04/15/sonata-for-a-good-man/#comment-687 I just saw the movie. I can remember the wall coming down and also my father, who travel into east Germany at the time, talking about how it was in east Germany at the time. I am not going to comment on the movie, you have already said it all. I am curious if the book "Sonata For A Good Man" is real. I just saw the movie. I can remember the wall coming down and also my father, who travel into east Germany at the time, talking about how it was in east Germany at the time.

I am not going to comment on the movie, you have already said it all. I am curious if the book “Sonata For A Good Man” is real.

]]> By: tchelyzt http://millrace.wordpress.com/2007/04/15/sonata-for-a-good-man/#comment-683 tchelyzt Sun, 02 Dec 2007 18:05:58 +0000 http://millrace.wordpress.com/2007/04/15/sonata-for-a-good-man/#comment-683 Hi Gavin, thanks for your comments. However, you didn't notice that I was a bit ambivalent about whether Wiesler (or Dreyman) were good/bad guys. I certainly saw his idealism, but I'm a bit wary of the old excuse: <i>we were only following orders</i> and I'm not too inclined to forgive people who think they know what's good for me and will force me to have it. Exploiters all over the planet find a never ending supply of such people and I can either decide they are stupid or power-crazed but I'm not prepared to give them credit for their obnoxious behaviour. Indeed, for me, the weakest part of this film was the idea that Wiesler would turn a blind eye to the border-crossing. I found it implausible. All his subsequent behaviour struck me as the self-defensive response of somebody who realised they had compromised themselves and now needed to hide the evidence. Hi Gavin,
thanks for your comments. However, you didn’t notice that I was a bit ambivalent about whether Wiesler (or Dreyman) were good/bad guys. I certainly saw his idealism, but I’m a bit wary of the old excuse: we were only following orders and I’m not too inclined to forgive people who think they know what’s good for me and will force me to have it. Exploiters all over the planet find a never ending supply of such people and I can either decide they are stupid or power-crazed but I’m not prepared to give them credit for their obnoxious behaviour. Indeed, for me, the weakest part of this film was the idea that Wiesler would turn a blind eye to the border-crossing. I found it implausible. All his subsequent behaviour struck me as the self-defensive response of somebody who realised they had compromised themselves and now needed to hide the evidence.

]]> By: gavin http://millrace.wordpress.com/2007/04/15/sonata-for-a-good-man/#comment-681 gavin Sat, 01 Dec 2007 20:58:24 +0000 http://millrace.wordpress.com/2007/04/15/sonata-for-a-good-man/#comment-681 I think it is misguided to say that Wiesler is portrayed as a terrorist on a power trip, fighting against the courageous, intrepid Dreyman. When Grubitz is driving Wiesler home from the theater at the beginning of the film, Wiesler says in passing to Grubitz something to the effect of "Don't you wish sometime that socialism was already here?" I don't know exactly how it appeared in the American version of the film, but the German could be loosely translated as I have. The film is set (and the entire DDR existed) in a time when all of East Germany was waiting for socialism, which was their ultimate goal. The initial phases of socialism involve harsh social control to make people of the same mindset, so that they are willing later to work together for the common good, according to Marx and Engels. East Germany was led to believe, and Wiesler was of the mindset that, they were working for the eventual realization of true socialism in Germany, and Wiesler is acting for what he perceives to be the greater good. His frustration with the lack of progress of the society towards socialism becomes clear throughout the film. When Wiesler and Grubitz sit in the cafeteria to eat their lunch, Wiesler sits at the table with common workers instead of at the table with officers like himself. When asked why he is sitting with the common workers he says to Grubitz: "Socialism has to start somewhere." It is my contention that Wiesler is not a terrorist at all, nor is he an "average selfish individual ready to use whatever power he has to walk all over others just to get what he wants." he was lied to, and told that he was working for the good of the state and of the people. Upon hearing the "Sonata for a Good Man," he realizes that the ultimate goal of socialism is not worth the present destruction he is causing, and turns his life completely around accordingly. One can't forget to look at him not as a Stasi, but as an idealist. One's lens mustn't be tinted by hindsight, and it must be understood that Wiesler himself was doing throughout the movie what he thought was right for the country and its people. I think it is misguided to say that Wiesler is portrayed as a terrorist on a power trip, fighting against the courageous, intrepid Dreyman. When Grubitz is driving Wiesler home from the theater at the beginning of the film, Wiesler says in passing to Grubitz something to the effect of “Don’t you wish sometime that socialism was already here?” I don’t know exactly how it appeared in the American version of the film, but the German could be loosely translated as I have. The film is set (and the entire DDR existed) in a time when all of East Germany was waiting for socialism, which was their ultimate goal. The initial phases of socialism involve harsh social control to make people of the same mindset, so that they are willing later to work together for the common good, according to Marx and Engels. East Germany was led to believe, and Wiesler was of the mindset that, they were working for the eventual realization of true socialism in Germany, and Wiesler is acting for what he perceives to be the greater good. His frustration with the lack of progress of the society towards socialism becomes clear throughout the film. When Wiesler and Grubitz sit in the cafeteria to eat their lunch, Wiesler sits at the table with common workers instead of at the table with officers like himself. When asked why he is sitting with the common workers he says to Grubitz: “Socialism has to start somewhere.” It is my contention that Wiesler is not a terrorist at all, nor is he an “average selfish individual ready to use whatever power he has to walk all over others just to get what he wants.” he was lied to, and told that he was working for the good of the state and of the people. Upon hearing the “Sonata for a Good Man,” he realizes that the ultimate goal of socialism is not worth the present destruction he is causing, and turns his life completely around accordingly. One can’t forget to look at him not as a Stasi, but as an idealist. One’s lens mustn’t be tinted by hindsight, and it must be understood that Wiesler himself was doing throughout the movie what he thought was right for the country and its people.

]]> By: Livette http://millrace.wordpress.com/2007/04/15/sonata-for-a-good-man/#comment-173 Livette Tue, 17 Apr 2007 05:56:17 +0000 http://millrace.wordpress.com/2007/04/15/sonata-for-a-good-man/#comment-173 Nice blog! Nice blog!

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