在这部塔剧情片中,这是一个在德意志民主共和国存在的最后那几年中发生的家族故事。外科医生理查德•霍夫曼虽然一直以来都小心谨慎地在体制下生活，但他仍被认为对国家安全有所威胁。他的儿子克里斯蒂安，尽管经历了种种困难，仍通过了高中毕业考试，并且在军队中度过了艰难、但对今后影响深远的时光。克里斯蒂安的叔叔梅诺是一名大学讲师，时不时敷衍了事地同文学审查指标作斗争。1989年11月柏林墙的倒塌在先驱者看来是一种解脱。这部从乌韦•特尔卡普的同名小说改编的电影放弃了小说叙事的广度，但仍属于2012年德国影视的重要作品。
A look at Communist East Germany in its final decade. The story unfolds in 1982, when the cracks in the repressive police state's facade are beginning to surface. Despite the restrictions, the educated few still enjoy some advantages under the system. The Hoffmans gather often with family and friends for warm dinner parties rich with derisive political banter, live classical music, and spirited discussions, holding out for a better future. But even as Richard has high hopes and strict demands for studious Christian, he hides a passionate double life and shocking secrets that come back to haunt him. Against this tense climate of fear and mistrust, with the secret police lurking ominously in the background, choices are made and actions taken that have devastating repercussions.
