Totally overrated...

Rating: 5/10 (28 March 2007)

I think this is a film which (for some to me mysterious reason) was loved by the critics, and has then been pumped up to the status of a masterpiece through the media by those same critics (someone once said: 'repeat a lie long enough and everybody will believe it eventually'). This is one of those films where if you dare say anything negative about it, you cannot call yourself an intellectual any more in most 'well to do circles'. The problem is, this film isn't a masterpiece. It's a slightly-above-average film, telling a compelling story that could have been told so much better.
What is missing is that there is no "feeling" in this film, the viewer is in no way transported into the atmosphere of those dark times, the oppressive society that once was (to better understand what I mean, you should watch 'Goodbye Lenin' which although essentially a comedy (satire), is immeasurably better in depicting those times in East Berlin). There is no real feeling of danger, the characters seem unreal, and consequently we don't care what happens to them. Even the most dramatic scene in the film when one of the main characters commits suicide, I don't think anyone is really moved!
Last but not least, the "main issue" of the film, the transformation of a fanatic communist and secret agent of the infamous Stasi into a sentimental, self-destructive, pathetic traitor is totally unbelievable (but maybe politically correct nowadays). Unfortunately, that is not the way things work in real life. No, This film is definitely not a masterpiece...