"The Lives of Others" Question/Discussion

[McMurphy]

I have been rethinking my personal interpretation of a plot point in the German film The Lives of Others.

Forewarning: the question involves a plot point that may result in a spoiler.

When Christa was brought into questioning for the second time by the Stasi (and was questioned by none other than Ulrich), did she really mean to "rat" out her playwright boyfriend, Georg Dreyman?

My original interpretation was that, no, she wasn't. Christa had recognized Ulrich from their brief diner conversation, and, after seeing the ever so slight nod of his head and his repeating of "Remember your audience" during the interrogation, she only revealed the location of the hidden typewriter because she clung to a desperate hope that Ulrich was going to shield both Dreyman and herself from the Stasi finding it.

Later, in the Dreyman's bugged apartment, she gravely mistook the Stasi's knowledge of the typewriter's location as a sign that she misplaced her hope in Ulrich.

Is the above description how other viewers were interpreting the events?