Riveting and stunning film

Rating: 10/10 (9 September 2007)

Wow, what an incredible experience. This German film is a dazzling document of the end days to a dark chapter in the human experiment. It is intelligent, suspenseful, claustrophobic and above all, profoundly moving in a manner that is devoid of cheap sentimentality and refreshingly understated. The cinematography and dialogue often seem inspired by the film noir of Fritz Lang and others. The performances, all from veteran German actors of film and stage, are convincing and haunting. 1984 East Germany is brilliantly recreated in its architecture, fashions and soundtrack. Not only does the movie convey the incredibly sad and pointless destruction of so many wasted lives under a corrupt totalitarian regime, but at its core, depicts the gradual disillusionment of its central character, a Stasi true believer, as he painfully reclaims his humanity at immense personal cost to his life and career. The ending rings true and is not in the superficially overdone style of too much of what comes out of Hollywood these days. This film left me under its spell for days after I watched it. I look forward to seeing it again and again. Its amazing that this is the director's first film and it richly deserved the foreign film Oscar and other accolades it has won. Highly recommended.