The Lives of Others (2006)

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An unforgettable movie. It is in the German language with English subtitles [Das Leben der Anderen (2006)]. It won the recent Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, which it richly deserved.
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It portrays a Stasi (secret police) officer of communist East Germany before the end of the Cold War who watches his system work its corruption and ruin on the lives of others, on real people. We see the lives of intellectuals and artists who are trapped within the insanity of a society of “actually-existing socialism.” Can good men preserve any traces of their goodness in such a brutal world?
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Socialism sucks. This truth had to be told, and you will not see Hollywood doing it. I found myself going through many emotions while seeing it. I was outrageously angry at the ruling elite’s contempt for human liberty, and I will refrain from telling you the raw expletives that leapt to my mind to describe these monsters. I was fascinated by the scientific discipline and methodical routines used for the perverse purposes of totalitarian control. I laughed at some of the sheer absurdities of a rigid socialist system. I shook my head in wonder at the fine acting and filmmaking. And I ended up weeping in release as this great sad, dark, but redeeming story wrapped up. Wow.
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-Zenwind.