Berlin, 1964, on both sides of the Wall: The Stasi aims to shut down an operation that has helped Easterners escape to the FRG; and a petty crook is forced to infiltrate the organization on the West Berlin side. A splendidly sordid essay in Cold War melancholia by one of Germany’s most venerated mavericks.

In German with English subtitles

Print courtesy of the German Film Institute