This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

There have been many films about cold war spies. Western films tend to follow the (mis-) fortunes of Western spies as these are the people who do exciting things and with whom the audience is likely to identify with. Eastern spies only appear on the fringes, mostly to be knocked about by our heroes as e.g. in Hitchcock's Torn Curtain.Our film here follows Eastern spies in West Germany, but it gives the theme a new twist. The topic of the film is not espionage, but rather how the increasing integration of the protagonists into the lifestyle of the West (one can translate the title as "The West is shiny") alienates them from their origins and compromises their position. I have some doubts how realistic this depiction is, but in any case it is compelling to watch. Despite the objections to its realism I am pretty sure the Stasi (East German secret service) was raving livid when this film came out.