An amazing film since the director had never directed another full-length film before this!

Rating: 9/10 (14 March 2015)

Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck directed this film and it's amazing that he'd never directed a full-length movie before this! And, it went on to win the Oscar for Best Foreign Language film and now is the 50th highest rated film on IMDb!
The film is set mostly in East Germany in 1984. The film is about the Stasi (German secret police) and their investigation of a playwright. It is interesting because through the course of their investigation, the man in charge starts to relate to the folks he's listening to and eventually abandons his determination to work for the regime. In fact, over time he slowly begins to cover up much of the writer's anti-government activities and tries very hard to save the guy.
There is much more to the movie and it it hadn't been reviewed so many times already, I would give a much more detailed review. Suffice to say that the film has terrific acting, nice direction and a wonderful script. Well worth seeing.