The lives of others

I usually wind up at movies that make me think by accident, but every now and again, I want to see one like that on purpose. I checked out the German movie "The Lives of Others (Das Leben der Anderen." I think it's the first German movie I've ever seen n the theater, and I was happy that I was actually able to understand most of it without the subtitles (although they certainly did help.)
Set in East Germany in 1985, it tells of a Stasi agent who is ordered to set up surveillance, under dubious reasons, on a popular East German playwrite and his actress girlfriend. During the course of the surveillance, the agent begins to empathize with the playwrite's realization that he can no longer sit on the fence between party loyalty and freedom of speech, and through this empathy, the agent begins to gain a sense of humanity, which sets him off on his own struggle.
I don't want to say much more, but I thought it was fantastic. Great direction and film work. Makes one realize how great we have it here in western civilization, where we can speak our minds without the fear of being hung for it.