Moving and melancholic

Rating: 9/10 (10 November 2019)

One of the best movies on the subject of loyalty (to loved ones or ideals) and betrayal. Set in East Berlin a few years before the fall of the Wall.
People on the wrong side of the Wall still live like in the 60s, very few lights at night and cars around in bleak East Berlin. The gloomy atmosphere is compounded by the dreaded surveillance by the STASI, of which we meet rising operative star Gerd.
Thanks to his friendship with a higher ranking official, Gerd gets the prestigious job of spying on playwright Dreyman and his actress girlfriend Sieland. The excuse is that Dreyman is suspected to be a Western sympathiser, even if everything he writes is above board.
The truth is that fat, ugly and nasty culture minister Hempf is shagging his girlfriend and wants to get rid of the competition.
Soon, the dry, introverted Gerd starts to have feelings for the couple and tampers with his reports. Unfortunately, Dreyman and Sieland manage to get into big trouble. Being a fragile, abused woman, Sieland is the first to go down. In a scene comparable to Winston's betrayal of Julia in 1984, Sieland spills some beans.
Will she survive as a STASI informer? Will her beloved Dreyman suffer dreadful consequences? Will Gerd be able to help the couple? The bitter-sweet ending is one of the most perfect wrapping up of such gripping narrative . Excellent, highly recommend movie.