| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Daniel Brühl | ... | Alex | |
| Katrin Saß | ... | Mutter | |
| Chulpan Khamatova | ... | Lara | |
| Maria Simon | ... | Ariane | |
| Florian Lukas | ... | Denis | |
| Alexander Beyer | ... | Rainer | |
| Burghart Klaußner | ... | Alex' Vater | |
| Michael Gwisdek | ... | Klapprath | |
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Christine Schorn | ... | Frau Schäfer |
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Jürgen Holtz | ... | Herr Ganske |
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Jochen Stern | ... | Herr Mehlert |
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Stefan Walz | ... | Sigmund Jähn |
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Eberhard Kirchberg | ... | Dr. Wagner |
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Hans-Uwe Bauer | ... | Dr. Mewes |
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Nico Ledermueller | ... | Alex - 11 Jahre (as Nico Ledermüller) |
East Germany, the year 1989: A young man protests against the regime. His mother watches the police arresting him and suffers a heart attack and falls into a coma. Some months later, the DDR does not exist anymore and the mother awakes. Since she has to avoid every excitement, the son tries to set up the DDR again for her in their flat. But the world has changed a lot. Written by Benjamin Stello
This story has it all : family tragedy, growth (from child to adult and even growth as an adult), dealing with political and social change, and romance. I think the story gives one a good idea of just how much change occurred when the Iron Curtain fell over Eastern Europe and the difficulties and opportunities it brought. The story revolves around Alex, his sister and their mother. Their mother has a heart attack and then goes into a coma. During her coma, communism fell and then she wakes up. Advised by her doctor that she cannot take any form of excitement, Alex goes about creating the illusion that communism is alive and well. This often takes a comical twist on the differences between the communist east and capitalist west. There is also the subtle hint of discrimination by both sides against the other. In the end the story is about family and loved ones and what we are willing to do to make those around us happy. Go out and rent this movie.
-Celluloid Rehab