This is the first full feature film by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck and won him a Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award as well as an uncountable number of other awards all around the world. The film runs for roughly 2 hours and 15 minutes and does not drag a single second. The reason for this is FHvD's outstanding script and a cast that delivers 100% from minute 1, also including all the actors in smaller roles such as Thomas Thieme, who gives a great performance of an influential figure not scared of using his political power to his own sexual advantage. The standout is Ulrich Mühe showing us his character's transformation from a ruthless Stasi (secret police) agent into a caring human being who puts his own freedom at risk in order to oppose a political system built on fear that is as rotten as it gets and protect the people suffering from it. Merely from the political perspective, in my opinion, this is a movie that everybody needs to see, especially those with an interest in history. And even for those who are not particularly fond of political films, this is highly recommended as the characters and their interaction are written and portrayed with such wit and accuracy that I am not shy of calling it the best German movie ever made. And I have seen lots.
I cannot even mention a favorite scene, there are just too many: the joke at the cafeteria table, the boy in the elevator, the interrogation between Mühe and Gedeck, threatening the neighbor('s daughter), the red color on the files near the end, the suicide references and so on. Or I could simply mention the entire epilogue, i.e. everything that happens in the movie after the Fall of the Wall. When Dreyman reads his file or how Wiesler enters the bookstore in the end are maybe the most moving moment of this film. Wiesler's last words are completely genius and I wish all films could end on such a high note. In general, his character and his transformation are one of the most interesting things I have seen in movies in the last years. There are many moments one could analyze, so I will just mention one. Pay attention to how he is looking for real togetherness during his meeting with the prostitute and thus cannot understand the affair between Gedeck's and Thieme's character. His faith in the system crumbles more and more as he realizes everybody is just interested in themselves, while he initially believes in the idea(l) of socialism. But the people in his organization are so different compared to everything he believes in that finally the whole concept of the GDR crumbles in his mind before it crumbles in reality. There is no point anymore in punishing the people who offend his country as he realizes they are the ones who are correct and he uses all the means in his power to help them without becoming part of an investigation himself.
It's so sad to see that Ulrich Mühe died so quickly after this film, even before his posthumous BAFTA nomination. But we should be grateful to see the legacy he left us here. What surprises me a bit is that Henckel von Donnersmarck has worked so little in recent years. He only made one movie in the nine years since "Das Leben der Anderen" (a forgettable thriller with Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie) and there is nothing upcoming on his body of work either. Maybe he really was a one-trick pony, but boy was that trick magnificent. A must-see. Perfect score.
I cannot even mention a favorite scene, there are just too many: the joke at the cafeteria table, the boy in the elevator, the interrogation between Mühe and Gedeck, threatening the neighbor('s daughter), the red color on the files near the end, the suicide references and so on. Or I could simply mention the entire epilogue, i.e. everything that happens in the movie after the Fall of the Wall. When Dreyman reads his file or how Wiesler enters the bookstore in the end are maybe the most moving moment of this film. Wiesler's last words are completely genius and I wish all films could end on such a high note. In general, his character and his transformation are one of the most interesting things I have seen in movies in the last years. There are many moments one could analyze, so I will just mention one. Pay attention to how he is looking for real togetherness during his meeting with the prostitute and thus cannot understand the affair between Gedeck's and Thieme's character. His faith in the system crumbles more and more as he realizes everybody is just interested in themselves, while he initially believes in the idea(l) of socialism. But the people in his organization are so different compared to everything he believes in that finally the whole concept of the GDR crumbles in his mind before it crumbles in reality. There is no point anymore in punishing the people who offend his country as he realizes they are the ones who are correct and he uses all the means in his power to help them without becoming part of an investigation himself.
It's so sad to see that Ulrich Mühe died so quickly after this film, even before his posthumous BAFTA nomination. But we should be grateful to see the legacy he left us here. What surprises me a bit is that Henckel von Donnersmarck has worked so little in recent years. He only made one movie in the nine years since "Das Leben der Anderen" (a forgettable thriller with Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie) and there is nothing upcoming on his body of work either. Maybe he really was a one-trick pony, but boy was that trick magnificent. A must-see. Perfect score.