> classes, and did you notice how freedom is "good" because it restores
> each class to its rightful place?
The closing shot of the movie neatly demolishes the whole notion of Western freedom: "Es ist fuer mich", "It's for me". The task of paging through the COMECON archives has become the paging through the consumerisms of the EU, and the battle for the freedom to dissent has become the battle for non-commodified public services (Muehe's job as postman).
Part of the magic of the film is watching Hauptmann Gerd Wiesler humanize East Germany in allegorical form. It's one of the great acting performances of all times.
-- DRR