I just saw a foreign film, in German, called the Lives of Others. It took place during the East/West German age, more specifically, the late 1980's. An intelligent yet cold member of the Stasi is assigned to spy on a German artist.
He becomes engulfed in the artist's life, and sees himself growing sympathetic to the artist, protecting him from his Stasi brotherhood, which he is greatly dedicated to.
Anyway, it was a great flick, nonetheless. I just felt like mentioning it.