Good Bye, Lenin!

[Renz]

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October, 1989 was a bad time to fall into a coma if you lived in East Germany – and this is precisely what happens to Alex’s proudly socialist mother. Alex has a big problem on his hands when she suddenly awakens eight months later. Her heart is so weak that any shock might kill her. And what could be more shocking than the fall of the Berlin Wall and the triumph of capitalism in her beloved East Germany? To save his mother, Alex transforms the family apartment into an island of the past, a kind of socialist-era museum where his mother is lovingly duped into believing that nothing has changed. What begins as a little white lie turns into a major scam as Alex’s sister and selected neighbors are recruited to maintain the elaborate ruse – and keep her believing that Lenin really did win after all.

Starring Daniel Brühl (the star of Nation's Pride in Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds) Good Bye, Lenin! is a humorous and poignant story about how far Alex will go to protect his mother, from filming phony news reports to searching the city for East German coffee and pickles.

It is interesting how the film examines the effects on people's lives of first the separation of East and West Germany and then their re-unification. The director also gives the audience something to think about on the effects of commercialism and capitalism, as well.

The film is probably a bit too long and a few of the jokes are undoubtedly funnier to German audiences, but Good Bye, Lenin! is a funny and touching commentary on German re-unification.

 

[Stout]

Have you been looking at my old Netflix queue? This was a pleasure to watch, but it did leave me wanting in parts.

 

[Mulli]

Pretty good show.

 

[Bada0Bing]

Recently watched it. I thought it was an excellent film. I was curious to see how they'd wrap it up.

It is interesting how the film examines the effects on people's lives of first the separation of East and West Germany and then their re-unification. The director also gives the audience something to think about on the effects of commercialism and capitalism, as well.

Indeed.