I am of such a age that i saw the cold war espionage thriller The Spy Who Came In From The Cold and as i remember it a BAFTA winning film with Richard Burton from 1966 when that film first came out and the nuclear cloud of the cold war was very much alive. Back then i doubt if i thought the two Germany's would ever be united again. I went to see West expecting a modern update drama full of dubious espionage the film wrong footed me so successfully that it must of been 85% through its running time before the penny dropped on me that i was watching a socially conscious movie examining the personal pain of Germany's enforced post World War 2 split. I really liked this movie which was slow and careful, superbly acted and written and directed with a studied coldness, i also thought it explained itself very well with modest little history lessons that never seemed to preach or to lecture. In short a rewarding alternative to my normal diet of factory Hollywood.
Review of West
