Now at the Movies: Leander Haußmanns Stasikomödie ("A Stasi Comedy")

With the satirically tinged East Berlin youth milieu study "Sonnenallee", Leander Haußmann, who came from the theater, made a name for himself as a film director in 1999. The film was also the first part of his 'GDR Trilogy', which he continued in 2005 with "NVA", and which he now concludes with "Stasikomödie". His new film centers on the young, slightly naive Ludger (David Kross), who is recruited by the Stasi in the early 1980s to spy on Berlin's cultural scene in Prenzlauer Berg. However, the informer, who is loyal to the system, soon takes a liking to the bohemian life. He falls in love with a mysterious artist (Deleila Piasko), meets his future wife (Antonia Bill) and even advances to become a poet in demand. All of this, of course, brings Ludger into conflict with his real mission and, above all, with his relentless Stasi commanding officer - a role that earned Henry Hübchen a nomination for the German Film Award. In "Stasikomödie" for which he also wrote the screenplay, Leander Haußmann strikes a harmonious balance between over-the-top humor and profound wit, between precise milieu study and satirical exaggeration. Supported by an excellent ensemble cast, the film is not a clumsy "reckoning" with the GDR's past, but an amusing and clear-sighted look back at an era that now seems very far away.