Or as close to it as I think I’ve seen. Beautifully shot, directed and acted, with a story arc that was tight and believable. No car chases, no guns, no gore, some boobage. I highly recommend this film.
I second the recommendation. Unlike many winners of the Best Foreign-Language Fim Oscar, this one deserved it. I loved the ending.
I’ll mention again as I’ve done elsewhere: In a bid to entice the Thais to see it, the title was translated into Thai as “Love Crisis in Berlin.” They’re always doing that here. But one Thai got up and walked out after about 30 minutes when he realized it’s not as steamy as promised.
One thing that I liked so much about the movie was that the production design felt so right. It seems that they really paid attention to the details. This added much to some of the more or less silent scenes. One of my favorites is Wiesler’s dinner in his apartment. Oh, and that jacket was just perfect.
And also as mentioned elsewhere, Hollywood is remaking it. Due for a 2010 release. No word on casting yet.
I loved this movie as well. I’m glad to hear they got the details right, it “felt” right but I’ve never been to E Germany.
The actress reminded me of Rachel Weisz and the Stasi guy reminded me of Kevin Spacey. Maybe Clooney can play the writer.
Yes, it was easy to imagine that WAS Kevin Spacey. Looks exactly like him in some shots.
Those are actually really good suggestions. Someone should hire you as a casting agent.
I can’t wait to see it, and I used to go to East Berlin a lot (it was cheap and wild nightlife back then, despite the reputation of being bleak). There was most certainly an “East German” look and style back then - it wasn’t pretty, but once you saw it, you never forgot it. Plus, I can still smell the stench of the gasoline/kerosene engines from the cars in East Berlin - think of a million lawn mowers all spewing their exhaust in one place.
Yeah, I made a lot of trips to the Bloc countries also. Only once to East Berlin, but it was an interesting experience to cross that border. The other unforgettable thing in addition to the 2-stroke engine smell was the ghastly smell of the tobacco-like product they smoked (at least in Russia). The contrasts between east and west were pretty dramatic, I thought. The film doesn’t play up the bleakness; this is more about ideologies and human behavior than scenery.
I shudder to think of what Hollywood will do to this film.
What the Stasi man tells the class toward the begining of the film confirms what a cop I knew way back when in Texas told me. The Stasi man said if the person being interrogated really was innocent, then he’d become angry, not be calm and accepting. A policeman friend in Texas, where I grew up and spent my very early adult years, claimed he could always tell if a suspect they were arresting for murder was guilty or innocent. He said if he was innocent, the guy would simply freak out at being arrested, but if he was guilty, he’d be all calm and cool and like, “Huh? Murder? Who, me? No way, man,” and go quietly. That’s what he said anyway.