The Lives of Others plonks itself into early eighties East Germany and focuses on their "Stasi" - the Secret Police. What a fun bunch they are. Rigorously spying on people, monitoring politically rebellious behaviour and delivering punishing interrogations. But when one of their best, Hauptmann Gerd Wiesler (Ulrich Muhe) is assigned to watch over acclaimed writer Georg (Sebastian Koch), the training goes out the window.

Gerd settles himself into monitoring Georg's every move and soon becomes fascinated with his life. And why not - Georg is a fabulous writer, in love with a beautiful actress and boasting an impressive head of hair. Compare that to Gerd (and there are some great comparisons in this film) with his grey apartment, empty life and skeletal dome, and it's no wonder he starts to act a little strange. But when Georg's actions start to veer away from acceptable, Gerd's integrity is tested.

Though quite understated in places, there are some lovely little moments in this film as you watch Gerd tracking his targets' every motion throughout the house, occasionally having an impact. At one point he listens in to a tender moment between Georg and his lady, trying to mimic their embrace. We then see his later attempt to recreate such closeness via a prostitute. Such sad yet amusing moments are brought to life by Ulrich Muhe, his mostly silent performance summing up every emotion with a crestfallen grace.

At a chunky 137 minutes there's huge potential for this film to become an arduous monster. It's German, it's ugly Eighties politics. It's a recipe for woe. Long, important woe. But thankfully the film flies by, with touches of humour, intrigue and gentle tragedy. However, Gerd's change of heart felt like it was brought on a little too easily, and perhaps the obsession side of things could have been explored even more. This film won an Oscar for best foreign language film, but feels less affecting than its fellow contender Pan's Labyrinth.

Still, The Lives of Others features a fascinating subject and setting with strong performances, and is definitely worth a watch.