Revisiting socialist reality

Rating: 10/10 (2 November 2007)

If memories of the realities of Marxist rule in Eastern Europe were as well preserved as its victims deserve, this film wouldn't be as absolutely necessary as it is gripping. It stands as a poignant reminder of much that the political left would rather we forgot.
The plot: A writer, his professional accomplices and his mistress all fall under the watch of the Stasi -- East Germany's secret police. His very existence is in the hands of an unknown case manager.
What follows over the next two hours of superb cinema is a story familiar to all who lived through that era. In the end, the moral corruption of a bankrupt system lies bare for all to see.
Witness this celluloid gem with the reverence it deserves.