User Reviews

Of you like Cold War history and storylines then you'll definitely enjoy this movie.

It is by no means a nail biting thriller but it does an excellent job in capturing the essence of the time and place in East and West Berlin right at the point when the Wall collapsed.

It's also an intriguing look at the CIA's intense inner workings and efforts at infiltrating the East and extracting information - and people - from there.

The acting is first rate as well as the directing and production value. And though it may not be nominated for any major awards, there were hardly any moments or events that seemed far fetched or unbelievable. People in the Easy were not only scared of those from the West, ut moreso of people on their own side, and that existence of fear was just a part of life.

I would recommend this film. It's a good little history lesson we should not forget.

Another one of those strange films I owe to RAI Storia. How else would one come across a German TV production about a spy tale set in the era of the fall of Berlin Wall?

The story opens quite rapidly and we get introduced to the double life of Saskia - a German woman who works at the US embassy in West Berlin. Neither his American husband nor their teen kids are aware that she in fact was not Saskia but the daughter of a high ranking East German soldier trained to penetrate into enemy ranks.

After the action-pack outdoor events of the party night at home during which she pretended to be laying sick (don't worry, it never sinks down to Mr and Ms Smith kinda superficial parody) we dive deeper and deeper into her psyche and personal history.

She's just too real a person to not like or empathize with.

The setting of 1989 Berlin looks extremely surreal as we are at the edge of the 90s (civilian lifestyle, punk kids etc.) while the Cold War is still ongoing with methods and mindsets from the 60s. It's almost like the job and the ongoing political developments are creating different time capsules for our protagonist as the story unfolds, not to mention the flashbacks.

I must confess that I found the lead, Petra Schmidt-Schaller, not just impressive as an actress but also very alluring as a woman. She's natural and down to earth, yet, has a very strong presence that captivates the scenes.

Yes, that was just a TV movie. No cinematic depth in photography, none of the extremely expensive sets and lighting Hollywood people would pour into such a story. But it was well made, or at least sufficiently handles with regards to technical aspects. The story carried everything else as it was really interesting to witness how the double agent was going to handle the situation as her own side was dissolving, Stasi files (including hers) was eventually gonna be sold to the USA.

As for the downsides:Tthey could have handled better the third act. They could have used less time by editing down some of the elements, created a more convincing scheme and visual setting for how Saskia handled the microfilm chest, etc. There was a bit too much of back and forth as we approached the finale.

However, I find such productions more valuable than pumped up Hollywood stuff like Bridge of Spies. For this is a German film, we get to see and breathe the reality of the era from the point of view of those who actually got affected by it directly. The mood and the character of the whole deal is different even if certain aspects of the story are inevitably familiar.

What does the film lack? Humor, I guess. Not even dark humor, which could work with the concept.

But still, I'd recommend it to those who like their spy thrillers with a grain of realism.

Another german try of romanticising?

The movie underlines "true events behind" right away from the start. Then you get a highly implausible, adventurous and still just moderately thrilling story. IMO pure unrealistic fiction. Espionage in general is a pretty boring and pale task, what you get here is the James Bond alike brewing on television B-level. I guess in hope to make it more appealing. If you can take it as another of Grimm tales, you may enjoy it. If you expect a realistic movie on the background of the "Wende" (Fall of the DDR and german reunion) you likely will be disappointed. German filmmaking often gives plenty of room for a good laugh, as proved here again.