Ulrich Mühe has one of those remarkable faces that changes in minute registers and manages to express some quiet, complex emotions. He lived to see the film win the Foreign Language BAFTA and Oscar, and to receive Best Actor at the German Film Awards, but died of stomach cancer aged 54. He also starred in several Michael Haneke films including Funny Games (1997).
Ulrich Tukur is also very good as his slimy boss. You can see that it is the kind of uplifting film that does seem to win foreign film awards,
