Good Bye Lenin! (2003) March 22, 2007
Posted by gproject in : Recently Viewed , trackbackDirected by: Wolfgang Becker
I can’t pretend to be familiar with German cinema, the extent of my knowledge being Run, Lola, Run (Lola Rennt). But that didn’t stop this comic drama about a son (played by Daniel Brühl) faking the existence of East Germany, from piquing my interest. The story is deceptively simple: when Alex’s mother awakens from her eight-month coma, her beloved socialist nation has become heavily westernised following the fall of the Berlin Wall. Under strict instructions that she must suffer no more shocks, Alex and his close family go to any length to prevent their bed-bound mother from finding out about the change.
While the set-up would seem to be leading towards a dangerously one-joke storyline, this movie neatly dodges the bullet by evolving into a piece about family and the lengths you’ll go to for the ones you love. In fact, only short sections of the film deal with the central premise head on, although they are also some of the funniest scenes.
With great performances from the central cast, especially Daniel Brühl, who plays the lead character with charm and compassion. There’s also some nice cinematography on display from director and co-writer Wolfgang Becker, along with all the set (and apparently, computer graphics) work done to keep the movie ‘in period’. Rest assured that the final product presents itself in a way that looks and feels very real.
There are plenty of comedic moments to enjoy, which all help liven up the story as it leads towards its rather obvious, but no less heartfelt, conclusion. Possibly the two-hour running time is slightly over-long for telling this story, but the moments of emotive exchange between Alex and his mother keep you watching until the end. When I think about it, there were probably many more opportunities to exploit the difficulties in keeping Christiane unaware of what had happened to the world outside her window. It’s probably to the filmmakers credit that they didn’t overdo it in this respect.
It’s by no means perfect, but Good Bye Lenin is a genuinely enjoyable film; and that’s high praise coming from someone who often struggles to watch European movies. I should probably forget what I think I know about foreign film, because all too often I’m proven wrong when I actually sit down and watch them. But if, like me, you’re looking for an easy introduction into European work, you could do much worse than to make this film the first stopping point.
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