SimonJack
The performances in "Good Bye Lenin!" are very good by the entire cast, and this is an interesting angle for a German film about the changes in East Berlin after the fall of the Soviet Union. It's two stories, really, the overall one being about a tight-knit family from East Berlin, especially the devotion of a young man for his mother. The family appeared to be much better off than many others in East Berlin before 1980 – about 10 years before the Berlin Wall came down. We don't see the father, a doctor who supposedly abandoned his family and fled the Iron Curtain. The Mutter, played by Katrin Sass, has a mental breakdown. After she is returned home and recovered, she begins devoting her time to all things Soviet as a loyal citizen of the state. Ten years pass, and the devoted son, Alex (played by Daniel Bruhl) is bored with life. The picture we see is one of a great laxity among the populace. It's October 1989, and the people are restless, the economy is in shambles, and the Soviet leaders no longer have the heavy hands to control the people. Mutter suffers a heart attack, just as she sees Alex being taken away by a couple of East German Police where he had been walking in a throng of protesters. The film isn't billed as a comedy, but it has some comedy in it. After eight months, Mutter comes out of her coma. But she isn't to be startled or she could suffer a relapse and die. She isn't given that much of a chance as is. Alex moves her back to their apartment. They have to restore it with the old furnishings. He tries to make things as they were eight months earlier, because all of the changes that have happened would be sure to shock her. The rest of the film shows the efforts, orchestrated by Alex, to have Mutter still think she's living under the shadow of her bellowed Lenin. But how long can he keep her from finding the truth? The last quarter of the film is the best part. The comedy is very good here, the love of family shines through with the characters, and the truth finally comes out, with Mutter dying happily. The film is rated R for nudity and some of the language.
William Musser
Having just watched this movie again after a few years, I have confirmed how much I liked it the first time, and discovered underlying sub plots. I have not read every review but have not seen this in the ones I have read. That is that deception, from the state to the people, between the people, (even the ones you love) and in the media is flourishing. The mother withheld letters sent from the absentee father to his children. The children withheld that fact that the country she loved had failed. The state withheld about everything. And the mother's television, her only connection to the outside world, broadcast news concocted by her son. She does not discover the truth until she gets out of bed, ventures into the world, makes her own investigation, and comes to her own conclusions. It reminds me of a passage in "The Lord of the Rings" that goes something like this; "Evil has not changed since yesteryear and it is not one thing for man and another thing for elves and dwarfs. But it is up to us to discern it in the Golden Wood or in our own homes." Considering the amount of misinformation we are fed from the network owners, government, industry, it is an important lesson. And with the advent of Photoshop, the internet, truth has become much more elusive. We cannot believe what we see, hear or read. This leaves us our sense of smell as the only sense capable of determining the smell of untruth.
zachevans22
Throughout the entirety of the film it's clear that Wolfgang Becker is trying to express a very satirical view on the situation of East Germany at this time, yet he strays away from the real issues a bit too much and ends up making the film about the issues within a family. Perhaps this is Becker's way of adding an element of realism to the somewhat surreal situation, showing that amidst the issues that plagued an entire nation or even an entire continent, that every household, every person has their own issues. The comedic take on the issue in itself would make the film seem like a straight-up satire, yet the concept is so absurd that it almost takes away from the satirical aspects, making the film feel like a regular old comedy. Though Becker does express some of these aspects well. One of the most humorous and effective things I remember from the film was the connection between capitalist ideals and the ones of socialism. The main character's sister has a job at Burger King, which to Americans seems like a very normal job for someone struggling by to get, yet it seems very out of place here. Perhaps it's trying to make a statement on the assimilation of western capitalist ideas into a society that was plagued by socialism for so long, and how things can seem so normal to one culture, yet so foreign to another. Another thing, probably the thing Becker did the best, was how people went to such extremes to hide the western aspects of life that were quickly being introduced into their society from the mother. This is one of the best statements Becker makes, satirizing the way that the government tried to block information and censor aspects of culture and life from citizens by having Alex and his group of friends do everything in their power to make sure that the mother does not find out about the reunification. Making fake news programs, getting everyone on board, physically hiding advertisements and any thing that would hint towards a western lifestyle; this is one of the things that Becker did best. Overall, the movie did a pretty good job at expressing the environment of East Germany right before and right after the unification.
braddugg
One of the finest mother son stories on the celluloid.How far can you go, to save your mother? How much do you love your mother? These questions are inadvertently asked in this film all throughout and by the end our love only increases to our mother as well as the film. To recreate a whole setup as it was 10 years ago, is certainly a humongous task and boy it was done so very believably, thanks to the director Wolfgang Becker who paid attention to the detail and built up the whole film so very believably.Daniel Bruhl as Alex, gave an incredible performance, it was subtle with the mother, he held her so tenderly as if she were a little kid. Katrin Sab, as other Christiane too complemented the performance well. It was a well acted film apart from being a superbly written one. But I loved Daniel Bruhl as Alex in this one more than anyone else. The art direction combined with itself has a humane touch amidst all the details of creating first a period of 1989-1990 and then Alex has to recreate the pre-merged Germany of 1978- 19879 and wow, all was done superbly. When the mother realises that his son has to gone to every extent to make her believe that it was all the same as it was, the son Alex remains unaware and that's when the tears rolled for me. Christiane tells him that she is already aware of what has been happening for past few months, I was moist and numb then. It struck me, deep I say.The cinematography is good, I wish a blu-ray is released for this film, as it deserves a better watch than a mere DVD. Also, to note that this film was an inspiration to many films world over, and in my own place, a blockbuster 'Dookudu' was made out of this. It is a must watch film for many reasons apart from the mother son relationship, even the way Lara (Chuplan Khamatova) and Alex just have a love story as subplot and how good people are, for those with good intentions. When heart is good, all men come to help us. Good intentions are loved by good humans.I loved this film that is made with honest and good intentions. Thanks Wolfgang Becker for this. A 4/5 for sure. Just not yet perfect though, as it slows down at places, despite being extremely interesting for most part.
AD
