This movie seems almost a paradoxical transformation: Gerd, a member of DDR in East Germany, pours his loneliness and his deep discomfort in his delicate work of intercepting a couple (a writer and an actress) suspected of plotting against the government. Spying on them, Gerd catches their desire to live, and becomes "good" all of a sudden. One day we see him teaching students how to conduct an interrogation (for the record: by not letting the accused person sleep for 48 hours he will then confess), and the next day he becomes empathetic with the couple. The movie has a slow pace, and this gives the viewer the illusion of having time to wonder why Gerd took the matter to heart. But it is a deception: the plot actually proceeds incessantly, and new details are added costantly; the course of events leaves no room for twists, even in the final (heartbreaking but not surprising).
It is not a story of political resistance, however: the actress dies after confessing the writer's secret to Gerd himself in an interrogation.
It is a story of personal resistance: Gerd fights against the demons in his head, against his sense of loneliness, monotony and deep discomfort; in a scene he begs a prostitute to stay a little more with him, but she laughs and goes away saying that the next time he will have to pay more to make that happen.
7.5/10

Good guys facing tragic circumstances in an interesting period of history.

Because you view the main characters lives from the perspective of the morally confused Stasi Officer investigating them, you receive more information than the characters have about their hopeless situation. This makes it all the more tragic to see the suffering they endure.

Absolutely love this film. The only film so far to make my dad and I cry.