Saturday, 10 August 2013

Good Bye Lenin! (2003)


Alex: We never talked about father again. From this moment on, my mother got married to our socialist Fatherland. My mother became the promoter of the progress of society. A passionate activist for the simple needs of the people and against the small injustices of Life.

After her husband apparently abandons her and their kids to move to the West, Christine (Katrin Saß) enters into a severe depression and re-emerges to devote her life to the Socialist party in East Berlin. During the last few days before the fall of the Berlin Wall, Christine sees her son, Alex (Daniel Brühl), being beaten up by the police while he was participating in a protest against the regime. She suffers a heart attack and goes into a coma.

Eight months later when she wakes up, the doctor advises that any shock can lead to fatal consequences and she'd be better off in the hospital. However, Alex realizes that the biggest shock that can come to her would be the fall of East Germany which she'd learn of sooner or later if she continues in the hospital. Alex devises a scheme to create a world around Christine that'd would give her no clues to all that happened in the eight months she was asleep. He brings in his sister, Ariane (Maria Simon), to help him in continuing a make-believe world where the socialists are still in power. That'd take him to the extent of scavenging garbage cans to bring back his mother's favorite consumer products. He also makes trips across the city, breaking into abandoned houses to find the containers of pickles, Mocca fix gold, Globus green peas, etc that have all vanished from the local stores due to the competition from the capitalistic West. He also takes the help of his friend to record videos of "news" that'd keep the truth from her every time she switches on the TV. In the meantime, he also develops a relationship with the nurse, Lara (Chulpan Khamatova), who spends most of her time with Alex and his mother.

Good Bye Lenin! is a comedy with its serious dramatic moments that depicts the love of a son for his mother which would take him to unimaginable extents to protect her from harm's way. Daniel Brühl with his boyish looks is absolutely brilliant in the lead role while the character of Lara provides the perfect match as his love interest. Chulpan Khamatova in the role of Lara is as sweet as anyone can be. Katrin Saß as the righteous Christine does a great act too as we see the genuine happiness she feels while helping others or the slight disturb on her face when she sees the Nazi swastika painted in the lift of her building. Director Wolfgang Becker has provided the little details in the movie that makes it a joyous experience. It could probably mean a lot more to the Germans since so much of their history is embedded in the events that took place in the October of 1989. But it'll be equally savored by the rest too who were not a part of that history and are only looking in from the outside.

Rating: 7.5/10

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