The Lives of Others was far and away my favorite movie of last year, so it was interesting to come across this review from Slavoj Zizek, arguing with the honestly of its portrayal of Communism:
Like so many other films depicting the harshness of Communist regimes, The Lives of Others
misses their true horror. How so? First, what sets the film’s plot in
motion is the corrupt minister of culture, who wants to get rid of the
top German Democratic Republic (GDR) playwright, Georg Dreyman, so he
can pursue unimpeded an affair with Dreyman’s partner, the actress
Christa-Maria. In this way, the horror that was inscribed into the very
structure of the East German system is relegated to a mere personal
whim. What’s lost is that the system would be no less terrifying
without the minister’s personal corruption, even if it were run by only
dedicated and “honest” bureaucrats.
Fair point. On the other hand, aren’t the failings and flaws of individuals a prime reason why Communism so routinely blurred into totalitarianism? It’s not that a system run by dedicated and honest bureaucrats couldn’t construct some sort of decent, if inefficient, society, but that there’s no such thing as universally dedicated and honest bureaucrats, and so any system that imbues civil functionaries with too much authority will necessarily devolve as they begin using their position and power to pursue personal goals? Communism as run by computers may be fine (not my choice, to be sure, but not murderous), but as run by humans, it tends to be a mess.
This, too, seemed an interesting observation, though more focused on Goodbye, Lenin, which I haven’t seen:
To put it quite brutally, while Ostalgie is widely practiced in today’sGermany without causing ethical problems, one (for the time being, atleast) cannot imagine publicly practicing a Nazi nostalgia: “Good ByeHitler” instead of “Good Bye Lenin.” Doesn’t this bear witness to thefact that we are still aware of the emancipatory potential inCommunism, which, distorted and thwarted as it was, was thoroughlymissing in Fascism?
