The Lives of Others (2006, German)

The Lives of Others depicts life under the Stasi, the East German Secret Police. Wiesler (Ulrich Muhe) is assigned to bug the apartment of Dreyman (Sebastian Koch, having a banner year with German Socialism - I highly recommend Paul Verhoeven's Black Book), a seemingly patriotic playwright whose girlfriend is the mistress of a high-ranking Party official. Doubtful about his mission's objectives, Wiesler finds himself being pulled into the lives of the people he's surveilling - for better and worse. It's an elegant film, and quite affecting as well. It's somewhat hard to believe that this is writer/director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's first full-length feature. In particular, his characterization of Wiesler is fantastic, and Muhe is brilliant - the audience knows virtually nothing about the Stasi agent's life, or why he becomes so involved with Dreyman's story. Is he swayed by the argument Dreyman and his friends make about the power of art? Is he moved by the relationship between the writer and his girlfriend? Or is he ultimately incapable of keeping apart from the action? It's a true shame that Muhe died last year, but what an incredible performance to go out on.