Customer Reviews
Outstanding - By: A. Serrano, 04 Aug 2008 
I was very impressed with this movie , although is in German with subtitles you will ignore that after the first 5 minutes.
Ulrik Muhe is a Stasi agent investigating a writer for possible anti-communist activities & becomes involved in his life.
The atmosphere of fear is chilling & very real & is the best movie to portrait a totalitarian regime since schidler's list.The streets os East Berlin appear dark & deserted from life & traffic.
The movie runs for over 2 hours & is worth watching several times , the Extras on the disc are very interesting particularly the director comments & Ulrik Muhe interview.
Blu Ray Region - By: RuggerNE8, 30 Jun 2008 
Excellent film, shame the U.S. import blu ray release is locked to region 'A', so unless you have an import player, or PS3 console, avoid...
As it was then, is becoming again - By: Irini, 01 Jan 2008 My brother bought the DVD because he liked it so much, & insisted that i watch it too. I did today, & it was well spend time. It is a German movie based in East Berlin in 1984, which won a bunch of awards - deservedly i might add.
It is an excellent portrayal of how a repressive regime can shape people's psychology, whether they are of the oppressors or those against. In 1984 the Stasi (GDR's secret police) had agents trained on how to spy the 'suspects' (anyone thought to not follow the regime's ideology) & how to extract information from them. Human psychology is shown to be a valuable tool in the hands of the agents, & so is their "research" on how to break down a suspect to talk.
The story follows Gerd Weisler (who actuallly reminds a lot of Inspector Finch character from V for Vendetta), a man who works for Stasi & is shown to be a loyal robot-like person with no life of his own, living by the rules. That changes when he is assigned to spy on a couple - Georg, a writer & his companion Christa-Maria, an actress. He seems to be discovering through them aspects of life, morality & relationships not known to him before, & against his previous beliefs. His transformation is very interesting to watch & at times i was not sure whether he would follow the Stasi code, or his own conscience; but that was true in a sense for alll characters, as their actions were hard to predict. Acting is excellent, & so is the music, as well the literature/art references, which create a certain atmosphere for the audience to enter.
Yep, it is very relevant in our days, where surveillance is becoming accepted by the vast majority everywhere, without understanding where it can/would lead to, or without the knowledge that this has happened so many times in the past & will do again & again, until we learn to study history & learn from it.
This movie kept me on the edge of my sit - there's no dull or boring moment in it - & with tears on the edge of my eyes throughout. It gets 5 stars from me & i highly recommend it! :)
A very powerful movie! - By: Aeneas, 10 Dec 2007 This movie is so well made & with such depth of character & depiction of a totalitarian system, that it gives the viewer much to contemplate. It shows a ponerized society in it's final stages, when creativity is completely stifled. I liked the way the stasi captain was depicted, who was ideologicallly driven & the process he underwent. It would be hard to write more without revealing too much of the plot. In light of the way Western society is marching in a fascist direction with surveillance & torture becoming the norm this movie is a must see. To understand about ponerology, I can recommend a book I recently read callled "Political Ponerology, a Science on the Nature of Evil Adjusted for Political Purposes", as it compliments this film nicely.
A very powerful movie! - By: Aeneas, 10 Dec 2007 This movie is so well made & with such depth of character & depiction of a totalitarian system, that it gives the viewer much to contemplate. It shows a ponerized society in it's final stages, when creativity is completely stifled. I liked the way the stasi captain was depicted, who was ideologicallly driven & the process he underwent. It would be hard to write more without revealing too much of the plot. In light of the way Western society is marching in a fascist direction with surveillance & torture becoming the norm this movie is a must see. To understand about ponerology, I can recommend a book I recently read callled "Political Ponerology, a Science on the Nature of Evil Adjusted for Political Purposes", as it compliments this film nicely.
