The Lives of Others

OK, so a film that lasts over 2 hours, contains no car chases, is set in East Germany in the 1980s, is about the Stasi spying on a playwright, and is in German does not sound the most appetising film. However, having been really disappointed with the films released so far in 2007 - so much so that I've not seen a film since Hot Fuzz - this film more than makes up for them all. It is quite simply superb.

It is the story of a Stasi officer who is told to place under surveillance a playwright by a government minister who is having an affair with the playwright's girlfriend and wants some dirt on him. The officer is lonely and gets drawn into the playwright's life and the film unfolds thus.

It is wonderfully written, has an excellent pace and combines moments of tension with some very funny moments. I know, a German film complete with jokes - who'd have thought it? Just as it reaches the climax - there is a wonderful coda at the end of the film which could have ruined it, but adds poignantly to the story.

Deserving recent winner of the Best Foreign Language Oscar this is simply the first 'must see' film of 2007.