Goodbye Lenin!Rating: 15 14+

Reviews

• Liam, 17

  4 out of 5

  By

  Liam, 17

  Date

  2011-11-24 01:32:49

  Teenaged Alex Kerner sets himself the formal challenge to obfuscate all evidence that the Berlin Wall has fallen from his post-comatose East German mother Christiane, to prevent any further heart attacks and possible death.
  
  The flick comes adorned with a remarkably clever narrative with a dusting of light humour and warmth from the heart and vision of writer and director Wolfgang Becker, who recruits Daniel Brühl to perform all the heartening. Whilst tending to his sick mother, Alex retains a relationship with the hospital nurse Lara, played by Chulpan Khamatova, ultimately forming a cocktail of love and concern as the two are seen to scavenge wheely bins and awkwardly ask neighbours for jar stickers in an attempt to cover up the fact that Christiane’s beloved Spreewald Gherkins have been rebranded from East German to a temporary import.
  
  Every little detail of East Germany must remain within the horizon of Christiane (Katrin Saß) from the now ex-communist political views of her friends and family up to the extent of the content she views on her bedside television. Every single one of Alex’s attempts to foil his mother is carried out with precise care in the intention that she must never acquire the dreaded thought that East Germany is no more. It is this which makes watching Goodbye Lenin! such an excitement overshadowed with the dire hope that encapsulated Christiane doesn’t succumb to the suspicion that what she sees before her is all a sham. Despite this, high hopes are kept with Alex’s genius methodology and character confidence.
  
  At no point are there any derailments in the plot line; Wolfgang has scribed it with simplicity and ingenious perfection, and has proved the film to be an excellent exhibit within the realm of world cinema. The whole two hours and twenty minutes is undoubtedly a viewing pleasure.

• Christian, 17

  5 out of 5

  By

  Christian, 17

  Date

  2010-12-06 22:25:46

  If you want to watch a film that’s not only a serious event in the history of Germany delivered in such a powerful way but also a film that has many light hearted ‘giggle’ moments, then Wolfgang Becker’s masterpiece may be just the thing. Goodbye, Lenin explores these issues while telling a story that's both funny and emotionally involving, it can have you clutching your stomach in pain from laughter one second, then having a breakdown the next. The main unfolding of the narrative arguably occurs while Christine is in a state of coma, and the division between East and West Germany (the Berlin Wall) is knocked down. When Christine awakes from this coma, the doctors warn her son Alex and daughter Ariane, that the mildest of excitement could be enough to kill her. This leads to Alex deciding to keep the re-unification from her, making her believe that Germany is still very much divided. As they try to shield Christine from cigarette commercials and the sound of the neighbour’s brand new satellite TV, they become the producers of an increasingly complex fake world surrounding their sick mother's bed. The most amusing part of this film being the scene where Alex goes as far as making completely false news programmes on old pre-recorded videos because of his mother’s demand to watch television, also including the scene where the background of the fake newsroom starts to fall down. However, it’s also important to know that, while Alex may be telling blatant lies to Christine, it is for the greater good because the shock of discovering the truth could kill her. Therefore it can be concluded that the film has a very strong theme of a son’s love and the lengths he’ll go to in order to protect his mum’s health.
  This film is certainly deserving of 5 stars based on the fact it’s consistently entertaining, witty and mentally provoking the whole way through while presenting societies considerable changes and how that can seriously affect someone’s life.
  

• Charlotte, 18

  4 out of 5

  By

  Charlotte, 18

  Date

  2010-11-24 15:16:44

  Ever felt like you’re stuck in the past? How about hiding something from a loved one? “Goodbye Lenin” Follows a young man Alex Kerner (Daniel Brühl) struggle to save his mothers life, or rather prevent her death, by concealing the fall of the Berlin Wall. Such a huge task is taken on naively but whole heartedly by a son that does not want to let his mother die especially by realising that the world she helped build for 10 years has collapsed. Resulting in some more than satisfactory comedy that is perfectly timed and maintains a sense of realism within the film.
  
  As an individual that is completely illiterate in History and knew little about the separation of East and West Germany and the repercussions of the split, I feel that the Wolfgang Becker created and upheld a strong and interesting story line that was easy enough to follow and also offer an insightful view of how it must have been. Although there were a few references that were lost on me most of the plot was understandable and enjoyable.
  
  The main plot of the film is surrounded by storylines that although added to the plot and created some excellent moments, I felt could have been dealt with in much more detail and depth. Alex’s love story with the nurse, Lara (Chulpan Khamatova) who was looking after his mother whilst she was in a coma, seems to me to only be an afterthought written to give Alex something to do other than looking after his mother and creating her fantasy of East Germany. Also Alex’s sister, Ariane, is a great character adding another view of what Alex is doing, creating a more rational view and pointing out the moral dilemmas and issues that they are creating. One of the characters that I felt added a fabulous comedic element to the film was Denis, an aspiring director who allowed Alex to uphold the illusion with some interesting news stories.
  
  Overall I think “Goodbye Lenin” is an incredibly enjoyable film with a great idea behind it only lacking depth for some characters and bi-plots. The fact that this film is in German subtitles doesn’t detract from the film at all and if anything adds to the authenticity and involves the audience member.
  

• Rebecca, 19

  3 out of 5

  By

  Rebecca, 19

  Date

  2010-11-18 13:57:58

  Goodbye Lenin is one of those films that I neither liked nor disliked. Yes there were some moments within the film that made me feel for the characters and their situation and it was interesting to find out some history surrounding the fall of the Berlin Wall, but generally I was not blown away.
  
  Throughout the film there were attempts at political humour; some succeeded and some failed. When the fake TV studio created problems for the presenter as a photograph fell down whilst recording, this did create a humourous response from the audience, but some of the jokes were wasted on the class, and on me.
  
  To me, the main downside to the film was the fact that it was spoken in German, so english speaking audiences had to read subtitles whilst attempting to keep up with what was going on visually, for some this was not a problem, for others it was. There was also the feeling that I got from time to time throughout the film, which was that it was dragging a bit as I thought that some parts didnt need to be so long, which did make be occasionally bored which I dont think makes a great film.
  
  Even though this film has its problems, I could see why some people would think it was a great film, possibly five stars, but it just was not for me.

• John, 31

  5 out of 5

  By

  John, 31

  Date

  2010-10-21 13:12:50

  Great film!

• william, 9

  5 out of 5

  By

  william, 9

  Date

  2010-10-12 16:46:43

  It was very exsiting