Dotsthavesp I wanted to but couldn't!

Hadrina The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

filippaberry84 I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Derrick Gibbons An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

perica-43151 Communism has a bad rep sometimes. Yes, there was fear and state control and all the bad stuff, but in all honesty, the counterparts of the Cold War had imperialism (culminating in the german version of hell from the second world war) and racism and other ills - the first black person to space was sent by the Soviets, as well as the first man and first woman, fact worth thinking about. But there is another, gentler side to the regime, in which many people believed and had some legitimate if naive reasons to do so. This movie is a sincere portrayal of Ostalgie, a nostalgic love of the communism, notwithstanding its faults. A version of it exists in many ex communist countries, from Yugoslavia (where given what came after its dissolution, and given the mild nature of the communist regime that gave populace much better lives they had compared to other communist countries or any time before or after, yugonostalgia is very strong) to post Soviet countries to East Germany.Brain washed Americans and some other western people might find this strange but this is heartfelt, true and authentic phenomenon that they might well try to get to understand. This movie might help, so watch it with an open mind. You should, because it is a gem.

Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de) "Good Bye Lenin!" is a German film from 12 years ago that runs pretty much exactly 2 hours and features some of Germany's most known actors back then and today: Daniel Brühl, Katrin Saß, Maria Simon, Florian Lukas, Christine Schorn, Michael Gwisdek and Burghart Klaußner. A lot of these also received quite some awards recognition for their work here and this movie in general is among the most famous German films abroad as well, especially looking at movies made in the 21st century. I would say that only "Lives of Others" and "Downfall" are more famous from recent German films. So "Good Bye Lenin!" also scored a Golden Globe nomination and BAFTA nomination as well as tons of wins at the European Film Awards, German Film Awards and other ceremonies all around the globe.The story is a bit absurd, but as a whole they made it work I guess. A woman (devoted socialist) is in a coma and misses the Fall of the Berlin Wall and the German Reunification. When she wakes up, her children are instructed from the doctor that they have to keep any drama and tension away from her, so what is their plan? They act as if nothing happened and re-enact the GDR for her. When she leaves the apartment one day, they just make it look as if it was all the other way around: People from the FRG fleeing into the GDR so that she does not start to have doubts in her political ideals. And in the end, the fall of the Berlin Wall upside down as well. I think this is a good movie and the script is certainly the biggest strength. Well-written and as no less than 5 people worked on the script, this is finally not a case of too many cooks. Besides writer and director Wolfgang Becker, the most crucial one may be Bernd Lichtenberg and I am really surprised to see that he did not make any other scripts for movies in the last 12 years.Anyway, there are moments in terms of comedy and drama in this film that did not entirely convince me, but I don't think it was bad enough to leave a sour note on the film overall. All in all, I guess Becker found the right mixture between these 2 genres. Still I must say that I didn't feel that the acting was as outstanding in here that it would have justified all these awards. Then again, I am far from being a great Daniel Brühl fan. Still, I like some of his works, for example "Das Weiße Rauschen" or "Rush", which almost got him Oscar-nominated. My favorite scene was probably the one with him at his father's party. Great fan of Burghart Klaußner here and he was brilliant in this couple minutes. The ending with the mother's death and what they showed her finally was very good too. The film could maybe have been a bit more essential if they had done without some of the insignificant scenes. As a summary, I would say that it's a good movie, not a great one, but very much worth watching for everybody with an interest in German history. Recommended.However, I have to finish this review on a negative note. Becker and Brühl reunited recently for a new film and I read about an interview where Brühl compares their longtime collaboration with the one between Herzog and Kinski. All I can say about this is that Herzog has made brilliant films for decades and I cannot see anything in Becker's filmography that comes close to the genius if Herzog's finest works. And Brühl to Kinski is goldfish to whale. No need to further elaborate on that. Looks like his awards recognition really cost Brühl his sanity. Shame, he shows glimpses of talent in some of his works.

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.

Emil Bakkum The film Goodbye Lenin is a comedy, produced in West-Germany, just after the collapse of the Leninist state in East-Germany. Not surprisingly, the makers exhibit a lot of enjoyment of the failing state. However, they abstain from a too overt and harsh criticism, because obviously this would alienate and offend the East-Germans too much. Therefore the makers have chosen to depict a society with senile leaders and a naive and mis-guided but friendly people. Apparently they want to further the detachment of the East-Germans from their recent history and past, which after all spans a period of forty years. As such the film and its story are sentimental and nostalgic. by the way, often the word "ostalgy" is used as a pun on the word east, so be ware (!). But make no mistake: in essence it is a vicious and one-sided attack on the former workers' and farmers' state. Its high quality of social and existential security is ignored or ridiculed. It does not say what it says. The recurring covert message is that the forty years are an illusion, in a word, a fata morgana. The old folks with feelings of homesickness are portrayed as confused drunkards. They seem to be at bay. In fact the main characters are a disrupted family, where the husband defects to the west, while the woman is intimidated into staying behind or at home. Be ware that this is by no means a typical situation. Actually in the seventies and eighties on a yearly basis a meager 15.000 citizens (0.1%) left their state. Amazing, isn't it? So instead, if you prefer a more realistic picture, I recommend the East-German produce "Die Architekten". This story is definitely more solid and trust worthy (subtitles are missing). By now you probably suspect, that the whole conception of Goodbye Lenin annoys me. Guilty, but please read on, and discover more interesting hints! For I admit, that the film contains some nice and amazing fragments. For instance, when the gigantic statue of Lenin (some 15 meters high!) is replaced by an enormous banner of Coca Cola. Do I taste a trace of nationalism here?. Or when a fake TV reportage suggests, that masses of WEST-Germans try to ENTER East-Berlin through the shattered wall. Is this a parable for the by then flood of West-German products? Or when the East-German furniture is discarded and replaced by Ikea stuff, and subsequently it comes out that lots of bank-notes were hidden in the original pieces. Can furniture be a subversive idea? Yes, it IS an amazing comedy. Also there is plenty of footage about Berlin and its everyday life. Still, also in this area I prefer original material, for instance the East-German TV series "Einzug ins Paradies" (entrance into paradise, but alas! without subtitles). Or consider the film "Spur der Steine" (rolling stones), which provides satisfactory subtitles. Although they are both inside jobs, and be ware slightly beatifying, they also supply an amazing criticism, while depicting the REAL social relations, with all their nuances and pros and cons and what do I know. They do not take you in.