A tale of redemption in a totalitarian regime

Rating: 9/10 (14 June 2009)

I was expecting this film to be a bleak critique of the East German regime, especially the dreaded Stasi, while that is there it is only part of the film, it is also an uplifting story about the redemption of one member of that organisation.
Gerd Wiesler is an officer in the Stasi and he clearly believes that his work rooting out those who oppose the state is a just cause and that those he investigates deserve everything they get. A friend and senior officer instructs him to investigate a playwright who had previously been considered loyal to the state. Gerd does this by bugging the writer's apartment and maintaining round the clock surveillance. Initially the writer says nothing to incriminate himself even when in the presence of more radical friends. However when a friend commits suicide he realises something must be done and writes an article which is to be smuggled over the border and printed in a West German magazine. Normally he would have been caught long before he finished but Gerd does not report everything that he hears. The story is complicated by the fact that the writer's girlfriend, an actress, is also involved with a senior party member and is taking illegal medication, this of course is the real reason that Gert has been given the job.
Those viewers expecting a spy film with chases, explosions and plenty of action will be disappointed, however people wishing to see a tense thriller that gives us a glimpse at how life can be in totalitarian regimes will be in for a treat and may end up shedding tears of both sadness and joy. The acting was very good, especially on the part of the late Ulrich Mühe who plays the conflicted Stasi officer.
These comments were based on watching the film in German with English subtitles.