The Man on the Other Side

Why doesn't Netflix have this on their platform? It's the perfect film for their demographics. Spy Thriller, 80s style, Gritty.

Despite the low budget, the film has an intelligent story to tell about the Cold War between East and West Germany, and the emotional toil it inflicts on people. Far better than those big, loud, annoying action films.

The lead actress Mari Bensel carries the film with a strong, gutwrenching performance.

Scenes are set in limited places, but works well for the story they are telling. Good footage of gritty, industrialised East Germany.

The Man on the Other Side has a few things going for it, and many working against it. Among the positives, first is the great performance by Mari Bensel, in a challenging role. Another strong point is the inherent believability of the genaral plot lines and set up of the film, namely the seduction of a secretary to steal state secrets. This was quite common in the Cold War and there are some very famous true cases on which this could be based. And finally, the rapid plot changes, taut pace and short length (less than 90 minutes) are a real plus, as the action moves swiftly, and scenes are not belabored. Otherwise, the film suffers a lot from some simple things that strain credulity, such as the impossibility for a two finger typist to become the secretary of a minister or vice minister, or the preposterous scenes in which this untrained, female secretary beats a professional male spy TWICE in hand-to-hand combat and using THE SAME TECHNIQUE each time ! Although the film's cinematography is good quality, the scenes are shot mostly in interiors (probably and understandably for budgetary reasons) and this becomes a bit boring and claustrophobic after a while; if it was a stylistic choice by the director, it was the wrong one !

I was pleasantly surprised with the rich storyline this movie came with. It was unusual for an asian director to even attempt a spy genre, but he expertly injected the mental and emotional struggles of his characters amidst a trying dark time in that part of the world, that i yearned for more. A sequel on Sophie should be considered.

Not a bad story but not unique. I have to remove a few points: one for being predictable; one for poor action sequences (not much action- the story didn't need it); one for incompetent bad guy moving in slow motion; one for incompetent and protagonist (the very tired cliché of failing to take advantage of the bad guy being stunned... for the love of God, take his gun while he's knocked out); and one for a careless ending and pretending there was a surprise.

I'd love to rate this higher. Mari Bensel is captivating and easily the best part of the film. Hard to believe that her character thinks of herself as 'plain'. She's anything but. The camera work is good, and the acting is fine all around. The choice of a love interest for Ms. Bensel may leave viewers shaking their heads though. She and her lover make the oddest-looking odd couple the screen as seen in a long, long time. There are some good things in this film. Alas, both the plot and the plot devices aren't among them.

While the set-up that leads to the action is understandable and, perhaps, even believable, from then on anyone over the age of three can tell what's really going on and how it will play out. It's that obvious. Oh, and the plot holes.... too numerous to mention (for a spy movie, it seems the dumbest spies in the world were chosen to tell their tale) reduce the potential tension in the film to a whole lot of 'hey, what about???' moments. The worst part? The 'McGuffin', the reason or driving force behind all the action, is left in the wrong hands for any kind of resolution.

Enjoyed Mari Bensel from start to finish, but this film strained credibility way too many times.