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.
This isn't so much a thriller as a glaring example of the corrupting power of the state, and of those charged with crafting and implementing it's policies. "Dreyman" (Sebastian Koch) is an East German playwright who is popular with the communist elite because his works manage to extol the virtues of their people's republic. The minister "Hempf" (Thomas Thieme) goes through all the supportive motions with him, but meantime asks the Stasi to keep an eye on him. The very ambitious "Grubitz" (Ulrich Tukur) selects his meticulous colleague "Wiesler" (Ulrich Mühe) to manage the surveillance and off we go. What dawns on them very quickly is that they are being used by the politician to discredit the writer for an altogether different reason. He has designs on actress "Christa-Maria" (Martina Gedeck) who just happens to be the girlfriend of their new quarry. She has very reluctantly agreed to his advances in the past, but on the basis that resistance would be pretty futile as he is not a man to be crossed. If they needed proof of that, they just have to look at the ostracised "Jerska" (Volkmar Kleinart) who is now reduced to living in a glorified flat share and who cannot get any work. The hitherto unshakeable loyalty of "Wiesler" starts to wobble a bit now. He dislikes being used and as his surveillance continues, he realises that maybe his targets are not the right ones! Gradually, the internecine and political elements close in on all of them and as pressure grows to deliver results, things take a tragic turn for just about everyone. It's quite a potently paced and cleverly written indictment of totalitarian regimes, this. The people live in fear and so conform; the state controls all aspects of the infrastructure of daily life and those who have climbed the greasy red pole soon display all the Orwellian credentials of his "Napoleon" from "Animal Farm". Plaudits must go to Gedeck who plays well the conflicted character who must juggle her love and her life and to Mühe who shows that as a former master of the indoctrinating arts, "Wiesler" too might be capable of change. Of humanity even. There's a fun scene where one of their colleagues is telling a joke about Erich Honecker and is accidentally overheard. We see him again later - but neither character is doing the job they signed up for!
London, 1929. Frank Webber, a very busy Scotland Yard detective, seems to be more interested in his work than in Alice White, his girlfriend. Feeling herself ignored, Alice agrees to go out with an elegant and well-mannered artist who invites her to visit his fancy apartment.
When beautiful young Grace arrives in the isolated township of Dogville, the small community agrees to hide her from a gang of ruthless gangsters, and, in return, Grace agrees to do odd jobs for the townspeople.
NYPD cop John McClane's plan to reconcile with his estranged wife is thrown for a serious loop when, minutes after he arrives at her offices Christmas Party, the entire building is overtaken by a group of terrorists. With little help from the LAPD, wisecracking McClane sets out to single-handedly rescue the hostages and bring the bad guys down.
The true story of technical troubles that scuttle the Apollo 13 lunar mission in 1970, risking the lives of astronaut Jim Lovell and his crew, with the failed journey turning into a thrilling saga of heroism. Drifting more than 200,000 miles from Earth, the astronauts work furiously with the ground crew to avert tragedy.
A couple vacationing in Morocco with their young son accidentally stumble upon an assassination plot. When the child is kidnapped to ensure their silence, they have to take matters into their own hands to save him.
During the final weeks of a presidential race, the President is accused of sexual misconduct. To distract the public until the election, the President's adviser hires a Hollywood producer to help him stage a fake war.
A paranoid, secretive surveillance expert has a crisis of conscience when he suspects that the couple he is spying on will be murdered.
A psychologist is sent to a space station orbiting a planet called Solaris to investigate the death of a doctor and the mental problems of cosmonauts on the station. He soon discovers that the water on the planet is a type of brain which brings out repressed memories and obsessions.
When teen-socialite Kelly Van Ryan and troubled bad girl Suzie Toller accuse guidance counselor Sam Lombardo of rape, he's suspended by the school, rejected by the town, and fighting to get his life back. One cop suspects conspiracy, but nothing is what it seems...
New York Times reporter Sydney Schanberg is on assignment covering the Cambodian Civil War, with the help of local interpreter Dith Pran and American photojournalist Al Rockoff. When the U.S. Army pulls out amid escalating violence, Schanberg makes exit arrangements for Pran and his family. Pran, however, tells Schanberg he intends to stay in Cambodia to help cover the unfolding story — a decision he may regret as the Khmer Rouge rebels move in.
Held in an L.A. interrogation room, Verbal Kint attempts to convince the feds that a mythic crime lord, Keyser Soze, not only exists, but was also responsible for drawing him and his four partners into a multi-million dollar heist that ended with an explosion in San Pedro harbor – leaving few survivors. Verbal lures his interrogators with an incredible story of the crime lord's almost supernatural prowess.