Rating: 
Summary: A funny, moving little import that sidesteps shortcomings...
Review: If you're a sucker for the ethereal, transcendent music of Yann Tiersen (Amelie), then you'll be drooling within the first minute of this warm, endearing import that sidesteps a few minor issues to be a sweet look at family, dedication, and Socialism. Daniel Bruhl stars as Alex Kerner, a young man (19ish) who had lived under the Socialist uprising within Germany, pre-Wall falling. The reason: his mother was a hardcore comrade, and right before Socialism dies, she falls into a coma and wakes up after Democracy has set in. The problem: she can't have any huge emotional trauma or she'll croak. So the stage is set for an often-hilarious little farce that guides the movie through plenty of physical comedy, wild setups, but an unfortunately long third act that could have used some trimming. I doth protest too much - Lenin is a sweet film that is much a silly farce as a look at the lengths a son will go to save his mother and an examination of post-dissolution Germany. The movie seems like it's all mapped out in the beginning, but by the nostalgic finale, it has gone in some unexpected places and developed characters that seem insignificant at first (especially an early subplot of Alex having the hots for a nurse, whom he soon dates - a refreshing twist for once). It's the kind of movie, much like Amelie, that will have you walking out of the theater smiling and forgetting its shortcomings. If a third-act subplot of a long-lost father had been excised from the movie, I'd be going nuts about it. As is, I'm still elated from seeing this enjoyable foreign film. GRADE: B+
Rating: 
Summary: The best (and only) German movie I've ever seen
Review: If you've ever had a burning desire to see a German-language comedy centering around the collapse of communism in the Eastern Bloc, Good Bye, Lenin just may be the answer to your prayers. This is one of those rare movies that succeed on all levels, as it's hilarious at some points and genuinely effecting at others, all incorporated into some of the most important historical events of our time. Director Wolfgang Becker pulls off this deceptively difficult trick with an effortless charm that's hard to find on either side of the Atlantic, as he does little more than examine the reactions of ordinary people placed in extraordinary circumstances. It's hard to think of a movie I've seen lately that's brought together as many disparate elements as seamlessly as this one.
While Good Bye, Lenin is somewhat of a one-joke movie, that joke is far funnier and more original than just about anything else you'll see these days. When Alex Kerner's mother sees him being taken off by cops during a protest in the final days of East Germany, she promptly has a heart attack and goes into an eight-month coma. By the time she awakes Germany is one country again and loads of new consumer goods are flooding the East. Normally one would have a hard time figuring out what the problem is with a flood of cheap new goods (there's even more than one brand of pickles now), but since Alex's mother has been devoted to the socialist state ever since her husband headed west and never came back, Alex fears that the shock of this brave new world could bring on another attack. Since this next attack could finish her for good, Alex goes to every length imaginable to hide the truth from his bedridden mother, which isn't easy as the former East Germany has suddenly become a much more colorful place. Not to mention, his sister Ariane, a single mother who's given up her studies for a position at a brand-new Burger King, isn't always on board with the plan. Alex's devotion is certainly heartwarming, but it's also extremely stubborn and a bit crazy, and the unusual nature of Alex's commitment is the basis for much of the movie's humor.
This ingenious plot device paves the way for what's easily one of the most intelligent and insightful movies to come along in a while. There are plenty of laughs to be had as Alex's put-on becomes ever more elaborate, but the movie also has a lot to say about the way people deal with change, especially since change effects different people in different ways. By focusing in on one family's undoubtedly unique experiences during this tumultuous period, Good Bye, Lenin provides insight into the colossal shock of communism's collapse at the same time as it gives the whole event a human dimension. It's this combination of historical scope (even in dealing with events that happened a mere 15 years ago) and minute detail that makes this such an intriguing movie. Becker's directon is constantly shifting tone from lighthearted to deadly serious, but it never stops focusing on the heavy emotional stakes involved in trying to maintain an entire vision of the world that no longer exists. Good Bye, Lenin isn't just a period piece, or a family drama, or a comedy; it's all of the above wrapped into one. And it doesn't hurt that the Russian nurse who becomes Alex's love interest is just about the hottest woman alive.
Anyway, as capitalism continues making inroads and it becomes increasingly tough for Alex to hide the truth from his mother, he finds himself forced to construct a whole alternate reality, complete with fabricated newscasts explaining why there are so many Coke signs and westerners in "East Germany" now. And the more Alex manipulates reality, the more attached he grows to the idealized notions that socialism represented. The real East Germany may have been a dull, drab place, but the East Germany Alex creates for his mother is a paragon of community and opportunity, a place where people will eventually come searching for a more meaningful life. Since communism was always more about idealism than realism anyway, it's not too hard for Alex to deceive his mother about the collapse of her beloved State. He just shows her what she wants to see.
Although I can't give it away, even the ending to this movie is surprisingly satisfying, even if it is a bit too sympathetic to socialism for this libertarian's taste. It's not quite what you might be given to expect, but since Good Bye, Lenin is one decidedly unconventional movie maybe that's as it should be. At any rate, if you're outgrowing Adam Sandler movies but you're not quite pretentious enough for the indie scene, Good Bye, Lenin is more than worth the two hours of your time. While it doesn't contain the level of action I often like to see in a movie, it's more than impressive enough to get by without it.
Rating:
Summary: mother's coma
Review: In its seriousness mother's coma matches the tearing down of the Berlin wall, this movie's other main event from 1989. And that's really all what is serious about 'Goodbye Lenin'.
Coma & td are embedded in a lovely light, original and humorous story. Greatly catching former East Germany's Communist spirit and its aftermath, without ever being superficial. Always well acted out. 'Goodbye Lenin' is great, although knowledge about Germany and its history seems to be a condition for appreciating.
Rating:
Summary: clever and amusing social satire
Review: Just as Rip Van Winkle slept through the American Revolution and woke up twenty years later to find himself a citizen of a brand new country, so Kathrin Sass, an East German woman, slips into a coma on the eve of the fall of the Berlin Wall only to wake up eight months later a member of a capitalist society. This is the premise of "Good Bye Lenin," a clever and affectionate tale about truth, love and family ties that transcends all national borders and boundaries.
Kathrin, a woman who has dedicated her life to the perpetuation of Communist Party ideology, suffers a major heart attack that plunges her into a comatose state a few months prior to the dissolution of the land she knows as East Germany. While she is "asleep," governments tumble, barriers crumble and a whole new tide of Western goods and values comes flooding eastwards to a ravenous, eagerly awaiting public. Then she wakes up. Fearing that the shock of finding such a radically changed world will lead to a second heart attack, her loving son, Alex, devises an elaborate scheme to shield her from the truth and to make her believe that the world she lives in now is the same world she knew eight months before (the basic premise is not that different from the one in "Jacob the Liar").
"Good Bye Lenin!" is an amusing regional comedy that derives its laughs from two basic sources: the near-slapstick nature of the charade Alex is attempting to perpetrate, and the script's satirical view of a society rushing madly to embrace the joys of unbridled consumerism they have been so long denied. Given its gimmicky premise, "Good Bye Lenin!" could have emerged as a one-joke comedy were it not for the fine sense of irony and absurdity that writer/director Wolfgang Becker (working with co-writer Bernd Lichtenberg) has brought to the project. In addition, young Daniel Bruhl as Alex and Katrin Sab as Kathrin deliver expert, moving performances that go to the very essence of the mother/child relationship.
I must confess that this film, despite its generally upbeat tone, brings with it a certain rueful sadness that the filmmakers may not exactly have intended. Could it really have been a mere fifteen years ago that the events depicted in this film actually happened - a mere fifteen years ago that the future of the human race seemed so full of joy, hope and promise? Now, in a post 9/11 world - where sectarian hatred and international terrorism rule the day - this image of people coming together to cast off the shackles of bondage and embrace freedom seems already like a quaint memory from the long distant past. In a strange way, the film has become something of a relic in its own time, outstripped by a world that has long since moved on to bigger and more dire concerns. "Good Bye Lenin" reminds of just how long ago and far away the Cold War really was.
Rating:
Summary: Ein primer Film!
Review: Oh my goodness! This was such a great movie! I loved it! I watched it in my German culture class while I was studying abroad at the University of Regensburg, Germany, and thought it was a great film! It was a very interesting insight into the lives of the people who lived in East Germany and their customs. For me personally, it was also an eye opener and dispelled some of the stereotypes I had formed in my mind of the DDR. On top of that, it was just a funny movie (it is intended, from what I understand, to be a comedy, so I didn't feel bad about laughing). It's also just a great story about the love one son had for his mother (in what many Americans would consider a very twisted way...maybe many Germans too). I'm so excited that this movie is coming to the US, and can't wait for it to be released on DVD...I don't have a DVD player that plays region 2, so I'm stuck waiting for it to come out here! LOL I have only one simple warning: this is not what I would call the "best" movie for a beginning German student to watch, as the language is very difficult to understand. I had been studying German for over 6 years when I first saw this movie, and it was still very difficult for me to understand. However, it's still a great story. Well, I hope this was helpful, and I hope you all enjoy this movie.;)
Rating:
Summary: Beatiful, refreshing
Review: This film is about a young man, who has been raised in East Germany by a mohter who belives in the sistem. She has a heart attack and falls in coma after sees his him in a protest. As all the reviews say, while she is in coma there happens a lot of things, between them, the wall falls. After she awakens, hi tries to make her belive the communist sistem is still there, for the doctor has said she wouldn`t stand another heart attack.
This film is a funny commedy, not a slow one, as someone said in another review. Didn't seem to me, at last. Didn't notice the two hours. It is, of course, a different sort of film, in everything, and that`s what is refreshing about it. That`s probably because is a german film. And this very important part of History is told from the point of view of germans. From the point of view of people who lived it. And of common people. The fact that the main theme is the love of this man for his mother, and not romance (that is present also), as in most films, makes it different too, in a good way.
It is a lovely film, with lovely characters. The main one, specially, anyone will fall in love with him.
I really recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: I laughed with tears in my eyes
Review: This is a wonderful German-language film. What amazes me is, it's so obscure in the US. It's hugely popular in Europe. "Good bye, Lenin!" is an improbable farce about an East Berlin family at the dawn of reunification. Hannah is a devoted Marxist whose greatest pleasures are volunteering at Pioneer Camp and writing letters of protest to shoddy East German manufacturers. Her son Alex covets the more "bourgeois" pleasures to be found on the West side of the wall. But when Mutti has a heart attack and falls into a coma, her doting son will go to extremes to resurrect the defunct regime. During the eight months that Hannah lay unconscious, the wall has fallen and her "Socialist Paradise" has forever changed. But her doctors warn that the abrupt culture shock could kill the fragile invalid. So Alex enlists the aid of mom's neighbors and students and even some of her heroes to carry out the illusion that everything is still the same. Maintaining the hoax becomes frustrating as familiar products become scarce, but the big challenges are yet to come. Soon gigantic statues of Lenin start coming down and gigantic billboards for CocaCola going up. And how to explain the massive influx of "Wessies" into their neighborhood? With the help of his friend, a brilliant film-student, Alex devises some absurd but convincing propaganda. His efforts are both touching and hilarious. For all its comedy, this film is very poignant. We realize that, despite the awful conditions, life in East Germany was not entirely miserable. Many of Hannah's neighbors are also poorly adjusting to the onslaught of capitalism. And as Alex strives to protect his mother from the truth, he discovers that she has been concealing a devastating secret of her own. Watching this film was a roller coaster experience. I laughed, I cried, and I laughed while I cried. It's just super. Don't miss it, you'll love it too!
Rating:
Summary: "Mr. Gorbachev, Tear down this Wall." If only it were sooner
Review: Who would have thought that not long after Ronald Reagan uttered those confrontational words, that the Berlin Wall would be breeched. Many thought Mr. Reagan hopelessly naive for even questioning the status quo with regard to Berlin, but down it came, showing us once again how history sometimes is less evolutionary than subject to punctuated equilibrium. Think of geological plate tectonics---ie., earthquakes & volcanoes. The Berlin Wall was an anachronism (likewise the division of Germany). We---in the West, at least---knew it had to eventually come down, but never expected it to do so until it did. "Goodbye, Lenin" doesn't address whether east Germans believed similarly or not, but it is grounded in the abruptness with which the Berlin Wall did fall. And it captures the essence of such most effectively, and does so in such a unique manner. Most of the film takes place AFTER the Berlin Wall has been breeched, but---at one and the same time---the story ingeniously provides us, ie., the viewers, a window into the east BEFORE this dramatic development. Mind you, save for one exception, it doesn't concern itself with the dark side of the German "Democratic" Republic, ie., secret police activities, informers within society, and the like. (If you are interested in such, have a look at Timothy Garton Ash's book, "The File." It's about how the Stasi security services kept tabs on this British journalist, as well as on millions of its own citizens.) "Goodbye Lenin," nonetheless, does give one a taste of East Berlin and that it does so in such a whimsical way makes for an entertaining film (the details of which I assume you have already familiarized yourself with above.) In addition, the acting herein is more than above average, and the direction is most able--in particular, a scene of a moving Lenin statue is accomplished with great effect; and is, to boot, hilarious. (If you think Reagan was the incarnation of the devil & simply wish to register that view---although it has nothing to do with this film---then go ahead and ignore this well made film; otherwise do have a look at this film & do listen to the director's commentary on this DVD as well. It will clue you in to a lot---after watching this film---that you didn't even know you missed, but did!) This is a 3 1/2 star film, but because of its historical interest, I'm rounding it up to 4 Stars. Cheers!
Rating:
Summary: Bye Lenin, Welcome Unified Germany... Or?
Review: With films like "Good Bye, Lenin!", both the critics' and viewers' darling in Europe (winner of Felix for Best European Film and French Cesar for Best EU Film of 2003), you should put your logic to rest -- this is a black comedy which crumbles under strict common sense; but when you try to understand its point of view, you may relish in the "American Beauty"-lite distorted story with lots of truth hidden inside.Alex (Daniel Bruehl) is a 20-something young man, whose mother, on the surface a devoted citizen of communist East Germany, suffers a heart attack, having witnessed a protest in October 1989. After she 'wakes up' eight months afterward, the communist regime is gone and the unification of Germany after 42 years of split is pending. But Alex, afraid of a crushing blow this reality would mean for her, takes great pains to persuade his bed-ridden mom that German Democratic Republic is still a reality -- he gets out-of-use groceries for her, shows her old-times video footage and gets 'enthusiastic' neighbors playing their roles to achieve the goal. Yet we feel that the moment the mother Christiane (Katrin Sass) finally finds out what's going on, is imminent. Director Wolfgang Becker skilfully and un-pathetically intertwines two layers of a story -- the real fate of this particular family is far from happy and is in a strange, thought-provoking contrast with the comedian bulk of the story. The film's sober bitter-sweetness confirms that almost nothing in this world is only black or only white. Although the potential of the movie to let outsiders feel what it really meant for ordinary people to live on the wrong side of Berlin Wall is a bit questionable (although favored, "Good Bye, Lenin!" was snubbed at Oscar nominations), it's already one of the definitive film (and artistic) statements of Germany's unifying process and may well prove essential for students of German and maybe even Eastern Europe's history in the 20th century.
Rating:
Summary: Not the goofy comedy depicted in the trailer
Review: Wolfgang Becker's "Goodbye Leinin!" was a phenomenon is Germany, packing theaters and sweeping the 2003 European Film Awards in Berlin. In light of that success, it was disappointing to have to wait well over a year for it to arrive in U.S. theaters. The U.S. trailer depicts a goofy comedy, but this is actually a touching movie about one family in the former East Germany struggling through the changes brought on in 1989 by the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the DDR state. In addition, it's a great little history lesson - there are great intermingled clips of East German leaders Erich Honecker, Egon Krenz and of other leaders like Mikhail Gorbachev and Helmut Kohl. Footage of "Ossies" stampeding into friendly Embassies right before the Wall tumbles are turned inside-out and artfully presented as Westerners clamoring to get into the "socialist paradise." Even though this is Daniel Bruehl's movie (as the lead character 'Alex,' he appears in everyone of the scenes), it's his comic foil (and new 'Wessie' pal) Denis (as wonderfully played by Florian Lukas) who stands out. Whether it's his unbridled delight at sneaking his low-budget '2001' homage into a wedding video, or his portrayal as a spot-on, faux East German network newsreader, Lukas' brand of humor is one that transcends any language gap. He must have had them howling in the theaters in Germany. To get a real sense of the German experience since 1989, I highly recommend you catch 'Goodbye Lenin' while it's still in theaters.
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