Who's in It: Ulrich Mühe, Sebastian Koch, Martina Gedeck
The Basics: An East German spy for the Stasi, the government agency that kept its people in fearful check — it's 1984, by the way — becomes disillusioned with the task of oppressing and torturing countrymen guilty of the crime of independent thought, after he's set up to investigate a "non-subversive" writer just because the writer's girlfriend is also the spy's boss' mistress. And then, as hokey as it sounds, his disillusionment turns to true humanity, because he accidentally begins soaking up music and poetry in the process. It plays less dorky than it sounds, I promise.
What's the Deal? Sometimes the fancy shine of a prestige-soaked Euro-movie makes you think it's somehow different from really conventional American movies of the same stripe. That's when you have to stop and think to yourself, "Would I be loving this so much if it were in English and it starred Tom Hanks as the spy who came in from the cold?" Which isn't to say this is a bad movie. It's a really well-made politics-meets-truth-and-beauty almost-thriller. It's just that the characters seem designed to fit into the thesis that Eastern Germany's dark past just needed a little hug to snap out of being so darned mean.
Movie It's Similar to at Least in Terms of Subject Matter: A new documentary I haven't seen yet called Decomposition of the Soul, where actual victims of the Stasi speak out about the suffering they faced at the hands of their own government, all while wandering around the remains of Stasi offices.
Movie It's in No Way Similar to Other Than Being Set in the Same Place and Time But That I Still Kept Thinking About Anyway: 1985's Gotcha!, the one with Anthony Edwards and Linda Fiorentino running around spying on people in East Germany all because Edwards is so good at paintball.
Awards and More Awards: Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film; also nominated for a Golden Globe in the same category; winner of multiple Bavarian, German and European Film awards as well as lots of festival and critic's groups awards.