Beschreibung

Nothing is private. Nothing is sacred.

In 1984 East Berlin, the Stasi Captain Gerd Wiesler is assigned to spy on the playwright Georg Dreyman. Wiesler and his team bug the apartment, set up surveillance equipment in an attic and begin reporting on the activities of Dreyman, who had previously escaped state scrutiny due to his pro-Communist views and international recognition.

One day, however, Wiesler learns the real reason behind the surveillance: the Minister of Culture covets Dreyman's girlfriend, and is trying to eliminate his rival. Though Wiesler continues his surveillance, he struggles to reconcile his sense of professional duty with his personal integrity, as he finds himself becoming increasingly absorbed by the couple's lives.

Rezension

"Both a political document and an enduring work of art" John le Carré

Klappentext

The first English publication of the screenplay for the Academy Award-Winning Film by Florian Henkel von Donnersmarck. With a foreword by John le Carre, and further material including essays and an interview with Ulrich Muhe.

Auszüge aus dem Buch

INT. STASI DETENTION CENTER HOHENSCHÖNHAUSEN - MORNING
A PRISONER in civilian clothes is led down an apparently endless prison corridor with a linoleum floor, past dozens of cells. Title on screen: 'November 1984, BERLIN-HOHENSCHÖNHAUSEN DETENTION CENTER OF THE MINISTRY OF STATE SECURITY'
Suddenly red warning lamps come on all along the corridor.
GUARD?Stand still. Eyes to the floor.
At the end of the corridor another prisoner in a prison uniform is led past along a corridor that crosses the first. When he has passed through, the red light goes out.
GUARD (CONT'D) Walk on.
The guard leads the first prisoner further along the corridor until they stop outside the door of one of the many interrogation rooms.
GUARD (CONT'D) Address him as 'Captain'!
He knocks on the door.

INT. HOHENSCHÖNHAUSEN, INTERROGATION ROOM - AT THE SAME TIME
The interrogation room is decorated with white wallpaper, and sluggish daylight seeps through off-white curtains. The furniture - shelves and a desk - are made of pale laminated wood. A sickly plant without a single flower stands on the windowsill. Hanging on the walls are a photographic portrait of General Secretary Honecker and a faded landscape photograph showing an autumn forest path. GERD WIESLER, a gaunt man in his mid-forties wearing a plain uniform, stands by the window, hears the knocking and calls over to the door.
WIESLER One moment.
He walks to one of the shelves and opens a drawer containing a tape recorder. He switches it on, shuts the drawer and sits down. His movements are precise and minimal.
WIESLER (CONT'D)
Enter.
The guard brings the prisoner in, a slightly built man of about 30. He stands rather awkwardly in the room. Wiesler doesn't look up at him. He studies the prisoner's files on the table.
WIESLER (CONT'D)
Sit down.
The prisoner does so. He sits down carefully on a chair upholstered with orange fabric.
WIESLER (CONT'D) (without looking up) Hands under your thighs, palms
down.
Confused, the prisoner obeys. Finally Wiesler looks up.
WIESLER (CONT'D) What do you have to tell us?
227?I've done nothing. I know nothing... I've done nothing. There must be some mistake.
WIESLER?You've done nothing, know nothing... You think we imprison innocent people on a whim?
227 No, I...
WIESLER?If you think our humanistic state capable of such a thing, that alone would justify your arrest.
The prisoner is speechless in the face of this dialectic.
WIESLER (CONT'D) We'd like to jog your memory, prisoner No. 227... On September 28th, Dieter Pirmasens, your friend and neighbor, fled to the West. We believe that he had help.
PRISONER?I know nothing. He didn't even tell me he wanted to leave. I first heard about it at work.
WIESLER?Please recount what you did on September 28th.
PRISONER It's in my statement.
WIESLER Tell me again.
PRISONER?(as though speaking by rote) I was at Treptow Park memorial with
my children, where I met my old friend Max Kirchner. We went to his place and listened to music until late. He has a telephone, you can call him to confirm this.
Wiesler writes everything down.
227 (obstinately) Do you want to call him? I can give you the number.

INT. STASI COLLEGE POTSDAM-EICHE LECTURE THEATER - MIDDAY
227 (on tape) ...call him? I can give you the number.
A finger presses the 'pause' button of a large reel-to-reel tape recorder fixed to the wall. Wiesler's finger. He is standing by the board in a small seminar room. 15 young men and women are listening to him: his students. On the board are various technical terms used by the Ministry of State Security: 'RECONNOITRE', 'ENLIGHTEN', 'CONSPIRE', 'OPERAT