Good Bye Lenin! [DVD] [2003]

I came across the super comedy a number of years ago when I was staying in Germany. I have a number of friends from Rostock Eastern Germany and as a lecturer in International Relations in the USA, have talked endlessly about life in the former Warsaw Pact countries with Czech, Polish and German friends. This film looks at the collapse of the GDR from one family's perspective in a way that mirrors what I was told happened by my friends. The plot is simple but intriguing. It begins in the closing days of the GDR. The narrative is given by Alexander (Daniel Bruhl), who is an unhappy young man living in a claustrophobic system, which he feels is oppressing him. He lives with his mother, a devout communist since her husband fled to the West and sister in a small communist flat in East Berlin. Alexander is involved in a demonstration and gets arrested in front of his mother. The shock of his arrest brings on a heart attack which leaves her in a comma for a number of months. Whilst the mother is in the comma the GDR collapses, the wall comes down, western goods and eventually money flood into the East, the sister finds a West German boyfriend, the family flat gets a western make over and many peoples lives change. When the mother awakens, the doctors are afraid a shock may kill her, so being a devout communist and fearing finding out there is no GDR any more, Alexander decides to keep what has happened secret from his mother, with hysterical consequences. Whilst the film is humorous it is also quite a sad and reflective film. It shows that not everything changed for the best and all things western had their personal and societal costs. The tension between East and West Germans, which I felt when I lived in Wurzburg in 1990 and Luneburg in 1992, comes across brilliantly. The characterisations used in the film are all sublime. The cost to East German society is left wide open so all can see in terms of, unemployment, alcoholism and the consequences for the family of an escapee to the West. I actually use this film in my USA International Relations classes, to show students that not everything was bad behind the Iron Curtain and that there was a severe societal cost to the wall coming down and the westernisation process. I think this film is sublime representation on life in an Eastern Bloc country and how the country changed due to westernisation. It is a comedy but it also shows the negative side to all the changes that happened in 1989 and 1990. I think this is the best German comedy I have seen in many years. My version had great English subtitles. Highly recommended.

Well. This is an absolutely great film. I love it. It's full of emotion, humour and fireworks. really it is full of fireworks and rockets! Wahnsinn! The deception behind keeping Frau Kerner (Katrin Sass) in the dark about the reunification is astounding and the humour behind everything is really dry which is typical for German humour. There is one part that really gets me upset for Frau Kerner when the statue of Lenin is flown away - i think it's the music as well - an excellent score throughout. A subtitled film to warn those who are keen to avoid that but there is so much that would be wrong with the film if it were dubbed. But it goes to show what some people might do for their mothers even it means saying that a country that no longer exists is thriving! It may help to know what the reunification of Germany is before you watch it just so you understand what's goign on. But ican recommend this to anyone who understands German humour, history and maybe the language. Enjoy

This is possibly my favourite film. The comments on the case suggest that it is a hilarious comedy, and it does have many very funny moments, but to call it a comedy doesn't prepare you for just how incredibly moving it is. The story is itself a very clever idea, and perfect material for a great farce, but the substance of the film is the love and devotion of a teenage son for his ailing mother, and the lengths he will go to to keep her alive in her delicate state. The funniest moments are the fake East German newsreels he has to produce with his new work partner, an amateur filmmaker, to try and explain the strange changes his mother notices outside, as she slowly recovers, and Alex finds himself creating for her an East Germany with a more human face. The film is beautifully made, the scene with Lenin's statue is simply wonderful. The music is lovely. A beautiful, moving film.

I saw this film when it was initially released back in 2003 and have only now (2011), following my first visit to Berlin, got around to purchasing the DVD. Unfortunately, this means that the only version I can find to buy is the one without all the extras that accompanied the initial release. Many have commented on the comedic elements of this film. For sure there are some good funny moments, but I felt the film only came into its own halfway through, once the premise of the mother being nursed after waking from her coma had been set. But the more I watched the movie, the more I came to the conclusion that it's not really a comedy at all; rather, it's a family drama played out in historic times. I came also to understand more how so many Germans loved it for it showed how the unification underlined that not all the West was good and not all the East was bad. There are some problems with the plot. For example, would the unwanted and unfashionable furniture placed on the street really still be there eight months later? But, as with the novels of Dickens or Trollope, such inconvenient necessities are subject to the greater importance of the developing drama. Finally, why is this DVD only fit for those aged fifteen and over to watch?

I've been wanting to catch this film since its release, but couldn't find a cinema or an online source until Amazon - it was really fascinating to watch this film set back in time, head further back in time to the East & West Germany era, and its method was both comedic and heartbreaking. Excellent writing and acting, and I'm pleased to finally have seen it.

A great movie. I was highly surprice as it arrived in good condition and on the selected day. I recommend it.

The Bluray looks great and it has a reversible cover, that means you can flip the cover and you will not have the FSK logo visable. The disc has german subtitles only, which means that there are no English subtitles available. Since the movie is also spoken in German, it is not possible to view this movie if you do not understand German. Other reviews state the disc has English subs, but these reviews are about different ASIN's. I have uploaded two pictures (front and back) of the bluray, so you can see for your self.

Uno dei tanti films che puoi vedere in qualche rassegna, originale, ma che non arrivano al grande pubblico pur essendo originali e di qualità. Trama con un bel mix di storia recente (caduta del muro di Berlino) con lati divertenti e malinconici. Personalmente da avere nella propria videoteca, ma se avete l'occasione almeno una volta va visto.

とてもよかったです。ありがとうございました。

Ce film magnifié par la musique de Tiersen raconte l'histoire d'un fils qui va cacher à sa mère, qui sort d'un long coma, que le mur de Berlin est tombé. Un moment historique vécu par une famille est-allemande. Des scènes cocasses, beaucoup de tendresse, et d'humour et on se prend d'affection pour ce jeune homme qui va, peu à peu, reconstituer l'univers de sa mère. Une grande leçon d'amour !