Der Blaue

In this German political drama, an ex-Stasi agent encounters an old friend whom he may have betrayed after his friend tried to escape East Germany. Dr. Otto Skrodt and his wife run a riding stable near Berlin. Also a member of the Bundestag, he is hoping to get a post as State Secretary in Bonn. But behind Skrodt's promising façade there is a dark secret that nobody knows, except his daughter Isabelle and his former command officer: he was a top-class informer for the GDR State Security Service and was involved in many killings. Skrodt knows that if his ugly past were exposed, he would be left with nothing. One night he receives a visit from Karl Kaminski. Karl is actually one of the unsuspecting victims who ended up in prison as a result of Skrodt's betrayal. Skrodt feels increasingly uncomfortable in his own skin, and he can't believe that Karl just settles in with him and bluntly pumps him up for money for a fresh start in the West. The duplicitous friendship between the two men becomes the main focus of the story which features interesting plot twists at the end. The brilliantly cast film about guilt, betrayal and political intrigue features the unforgettable Ulrich Mühe (The Lives of Others) and Manfred Krug (Liebling Kreuzberg, Tatort). This film is an unprecedented piece of contemporary history that deals with the issue of the Stasi past without embellishing it.