Kirpianuscus for a viewer from Eastern Europe, it is a special film. not for the story itself or for performances but for the great themes who are opportunities for not ignore the past. because the nostalgia for the image of a better past, the every day realities under Communism, the need to escape from the pressure of dictatorship in its different aspects and, after 1990, to adapt yourself to the democratic values are basic things who impose !Good Bye Lenin !" as a must see. the film works with simple fragments of facts. and it does it in admirable manner. so, an useful film. especially for the memory of a viewer from East.

Horst in Translation ([email protected]) "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.

DDCinemaClub Good bye Lenin!In short, this film is about a son and daughter who go to increasingly inventive lengths to protect their mother from the cultural and social changes associated with the fall of the Berlin wall.Daniel Bruhl is superbly cast and #hulpan Khamatova is a fetching co-star who should really demand more screen time.A fascinating tale of a family dealing with the dynamism of political change… Divorced Dads Cinema Club Rating 81% – A heartwarming and entertaining satire

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.