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
Review by salvatore del giudiceBlockedParentSpoilers2018-11-16T00:56:59Z
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