Please look carefully at the picture above. In what context does this scene appear in the movie? What is happening here and why is it important? How would you describe Wiesler’s facial expression? Why is he crying? What is he feeling? Describe in detail what you see in the image and how it is structured. How do the elements in the image relate to each other? What can we hear in this scene and what does the sound add to the scene?
What role does art play in this movie? How are art and state related to each other? How are art and morality related to each other? What is the significance of music in the film? What is the importance of the Brecht poetry book in the film?
Does art have the power to make us good people? The director offers us plenty of evidence that artists are more sensitive, more compassionate, more empathetic. But he also offers us plenty of evidence that art does not make us better people. Why are people who worship art capable of barbaric behavior? Why do we study art? Does it have the power to change us? Is Hempf correct? Are people incapable of change?
How does the repressive state control its citizens and their minds. What surveillance methods are used? What do different characters do to “escape” from their state – in a literal and in a metaphorical sense?
The film begins in 1984. In what ways could this date be significant? What other intertextual references can you find in the film? Reflect on how the voyeuristic elements in the film could be interpreted as a meta-commentary on cinema.
Please describe the protagonists Gerd Wiesler and Georg Dreyman. How would you describe their appearance, their gestures, and their facial expressions? How do these two main characters develop? Where do you see an important turning point in their development? What motivates their actions? Make a comparative examination of where Wiesler and Dreyman live and then discuss what such an examination of settings might reveal about these two protagonists and the film themes.
What role does Christa-Maria Sieland play in the film? How would you describe her and her development? How are women depicted and what do you think of the film’s representation of female and male characters? Considering the name “Christa-Maria,” does the film have a religious dimension?
Please comment on the film’s cinematography. What filmic devices did you notice? What do you think about the color palette of the film? Why do you think the filmmaker might have decided to employ such a color palette?
What aspects of the film did you like best? Who is your favorite character in the movie and why? Who was your least favorite character? What part of the story told by the movie was the most powerful? Which scene of the film do you find most important? Why? What aspects of the film do you see critically?
What were you thinking as you finished watching this film? In your opinion, what is the message of this film? Do you agree or disagree with it? Why? If you were writing the screenplay for this movie, would you have changed the ending? Explain your answer. How would you interpret the title of the movie? How does the title relate to a main message or a main theme in the film?
