A very optimistic movie on human faith.

Rating: 9/10 (3 August 2008)

The beginning was captivating by telling the theory of interrogation. A student in the East Germany era suggested that the questioning method might be inhumane, Agent Wieseler (also the teacher) immediately made a special mark next to his name.
Later in the move, the house search by the secret service, the rape of Christa-Maria Sieland by the supposedly righteous minister, the joke in the canteen about Erich Honecker (East German's head of state) etc, all caused a surge of adrenaline among the audience.
The wiretapping looked primitive, no flashy screens, no shrieking sounds from the radio signals, no special effects (not even gunshots), but the tension accumulated gradually by the authoritarian regime created a thriller-like play.
The ending was not bad also, indeed the best happiest ending possible in this story. Agent Wiesler's sacrifice was revealed to Georg Dreyman. Instead of thanking Wiesler for hiding his little secrets, Dreyman thanked "HGW XX/7" in his new book named Sonata for the Good Men.
While some critics said the movie was over-optimistic in human faith or naive in terms of the historical background, but please be reminded that it was a movie with a story based on history, not history itself.