In 1984 East Berlin, dedicated Stasi officer Gerd Wiesler begins spying on a famous playwright and his actress-lover Christa-Maria. Wiesler becomes unexpectedly sympathetic to the couple, and faces conflicting loyalties when his superior takes a liking to Christa-Maria.
A woman meets a man in a bar late in the evening and goes to his apartment. A woman picks up a girl from school and runs with the child through the park. If we see such scenes in a movie, or are we watching such situations in life, we quickly believe we know who these women are: a woman looking for a fleeting adventure in the first scene, a caring mother in the second.
