East Berlin, 1989: Young rioters fill the streets with noise, loudly protesting their government’s harsh restrictions that separate them from the real world. The Wall is about to fall, and the iron curtain is about to reveal its repressed citizens.
Director Wolfgang Becker’s “Good Bye, Lenin!” paints an intimate picture of this historical period that occurred just twenty years ago, but is far from the thoughts of current college students born during the same time.
The movie focuses on Christiane (Katrin Sass), a single mother and loyal comrade who wholly believes in the GDR’s importance in the world. Just a few nights before the wall falls, she sees her rioting teenage son Alex (Daniel Brühl) being harshly beaten and carried away by the police. A heart attack strikes and lapses her into a coma in which she is relegated to a hospital, laying unconscious for months; the same months where the wall falls, western companies infiltrate and modernize East Germany, the currency changes, and the oppressed citizens scream out loud (in more ways than one) to display their newfound freedom. When she finally comes out of her coma, the doctor ominously proclaims, “The slightest shock could kill her!”
While western society is galloping in at full speed, Alex and his sister struggle to create a fictional East Germany where communism not only reigns, but is the ideal for which the rest of the world strives. Naturally, this plot has no choice but to be loaded with situational comedy that is both priceless and enjoyable.
The film is not so much a political commentary or a history of the fall of communism, but rather, a personal tale of how far we will go for our loved ones. It strikes a feeling of nostalgia, laced with a subtle undertone that highlights man’s instinctive resistance to change. One cannot help but to feel shocked by the degree of change this country experienced overnight.
To execute one of his clever ploys, Alex ends up hiring one of the countries most prized citizens, a cosmonaut, who is now reduced to being a taxi cab driver in this new society. Picture seeing a personality like Kobe Bryant begging for money on the streets just a couple of months after he wins the championship title.
Director Becker tells a compelling story that is sure to appeal to a variety of tastes. Even during the most somber parts of the story, the film never lets go of its astute sense of humor. True to life, it depicts the bittersweet aspect of all situations. Even at the films climax, where Christiane accidently stumbles out into the real world and sees a helicopter airlifting a humongous statue of Lenin away, I experienced a distinct cold chill down my spine but couldn’t help the funny grin that spread across my face as I stared at the absurd scene.
The movie is a clever and affectionate tale about truth, love and family ties that transcends all national borders and boundaries. The performances are perfect, and so comfortable that you’ll completely forget you are busy reading subtitles. On top of all of this, Yann Tiersen’s memorable soundtrack is so simple that it adds yet another degree to the film’s honesty.
Fundamentally, it’s just a great, thorough, well-made movie –– one where I completely lost myself in a society completely foreign to me.
