Goodbye, Lenin!
Published July 16, 2003
For most of us living outside of Germany it's hard to fathom the huge changes that must have gripped the country when East and West Germany were integrated after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. One movie, Goodbye, Lenin!, directed and co-written by Wolfgang Becker, tackles this very issue, but in a deft and funny way. The film follows Christiane (Katrin Saß), and her children Alex (Daniel Brühl) and Ariane (Maria Simon), who live in East Berlin. Christiane's husband absconds for a life of captialistic indulgence in West Berlin, which results in her becoming a dedicated party worker. Just as the events leading up to the fall of the Berlin wall escalate, Christiane has a heart attack and falls into a coma. When she wakes up nine months later her country has undergone massive changes, and the doctors warn Alex and Ariane that their mother may not survive any shocks. They decide to recreate a mini-East Germany in their mother's bedroom and pretend that nothing has happened.
All the performances are top-notch, and the movie light-heartedly examines the predicaments of a society attempting a massive paradigm shift. Sensitive and serious issues such as employment, currency changes, reunions with lost family members, and the introduction of commercialism to a virgin market are dealt with humorously, and with a certain poignant fondness for what has disappeared. The lies Alex tells his mother get more complicated as she recovers from her illness and glimpses that not everything is quite the same since she woke up - with some hilarious results. There were a number of Germans in the theatre when I saw the movie and it was obvious they hugely enjoyed the film - which has been a big hit in their home country. My only criticism is that the movie sagged somewhat towards the end, but not enough to hamper my fun. This is a great example of how you can address serious issues in a light-hearted manner, and still produce an entertaining movie.
- Goodbye, Lenin!
- Published: July 16, 2003
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- Section: Video
- Filed Under: Video: Art House, Video: Comedy
- Writer: Maura McHugh
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PS: In addition to the German cinema book, people might be interested in "Heroes like us" by Thomas Brussig. I'd highly recommend to also link it. It's dealing with the same topic - in a humorous way. Just as a novel. One of my favourites concering the end of the GDR!
Hi Michelle, thanks for the tip and I've linked to "Heroes Like Us".
I'm not German, but I was in Berlin nearly three years ago, well after the fall of the wall. I saw the film at the Galway Film Festival (http://www.galwayfilmfleadh) last week, and of course it was subtitled in English. I'd already heard about the film because it had caused a lot of buzz, and was a hit in Germany, so I specificially wanted to see it. I think a lot of the humour translates very well. An Irish audience reacted really well to it, so it must be doing something right. ;)
Cool! I've never thought about the fact that the film could be shown in other countries. I really like that idea! There's another one that's really cool - it's "Sonnenallee" in German (just a street name) after a novel by Thomas Brussig (yeah, the "Heroes like us" author). That's also cult - has this been in cinemas outside Germany?
Hi Michelle,
No, I haven't heard of "Sonenallee", but I've checked it out on imdb.com and see it was made in 1999, which is four years ago. I'll keep my eye out for it if I ever get a chance to see it.
My only criteria for watching films is that they are good, but I do love watching films from other countries as it's a great way to see how other cultures look at the world.
If that's your criteria, I'm sure you'll like "Sonnenallee". Unlike "Goodbye Lenin" it shows life in the GDR (somewhere in the 80ies) in the Sonnenallee, which is a street right next to the Wall. It's absurd and yet funny. I don't see to many German films myself, because the humour mostly is so flat. But this one was really good!
Another PS: I just now realize that there are breast on the US edition of "Heroes like us". Which is funny, because the German original edition shows a penis;-)
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That has been sold to the US? And dubbed? Cool! I'm impressed, I liked the movie a lot - being east german myself and recognizing a lot of stuff on screen. However, I'm asking myself if you could find it funny if you haven't seen it yourself (I mean the GDR, not the film). There's humor drawn from recognizing patterns from East Germany and there is general humor in the film. And I can't really see where the line is, because I'm too close to the topic.