Good Bye Lenin! (2003)

In 1990, to protect his fragile mother from a fatal shock after a long coma, a young man must keep her from learning that her beloved nation of East Germany as she knew it has disappeared.

Director:

Wolfgang Becker

Writers:

Bernd Lichtenberg, Achim von Borries (collaborator on screenplay)

Stars:

Daniel Brühl, Katrin Saß, Chulpan Khamatova

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 36 wins & 19 nominations.

Cast

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
Christine Schorn	...	Frau Schäfer
Jürgen Holtz	...	Herr Ganske
Jochen Stern	...	Herr Mehlert
Stefan Walz	...	Sigmund Jähn
Eberhard Kirchberg	...	Dr. Wagner
Hans-Uwe Bauer	...	Dr. Mewes
Nico Ledermueller	...	Alex - 11 Jahre (as Nico Ledermüller)

Storyline

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 GDR does not exist anymore and the mother awakes. Since she has to avoid every excitement, the son tries to set up the GDR again for her in their flat. But the world has changed a lot.

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Plot Keywords:

coma | german democratic republic | capitalism | political activism | german reunification | 

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Taglines:

Die DDR lebt weiter -- auf 79 qm!

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for brief language and sexuality

Details

Official Sites:

German Cinema Archive Océan Films [France]

Country:

Germany

Language:

German English Russian

Release Date:

14 May 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

Good Bye Lenin!

Filming Locations:

Studio Berlin Adlershof, Am Studio 20, Adlershof, Berlin, Germany

Box Office

Budget:

€4,800,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$2,450,171 (Germany), 14 February 2003

Opening Weekend USA:

$57,968, 29 February 2004, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$4,064,200

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$79,384,880

Company Credits

Production Co:

X-Filme Creative Pool, Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR), ARTE

Technical Specs

Runtime:

121 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Black and White (archive footage) Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The scene in the bank was filmed on 11 September 2001. Maria Simon later said that she found it very difficult to distinguish between acting and the unbelievable TV news from the real world.

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Goofs

When Alex first enters the hospital to pay a visit to his mother, there are modern green emergency exit signs.

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Quotes

Sigmund Jähn: Where to?
Alexander Kerner: Wannsee
Sigmund Jähn: I know what you think. Everyone does. But I'm not him.

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Crazy Credits

Renowned German actor Jürgen Vogel plays the chicken in the supermarket and is credited as "Das Küken" ("young chicken").

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Connections

References Sun Alley (1999)

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Soundtracks

Comptine d'un autre Été : L'après-midi
by Yann Tiersen

User Reviews

Small but perfectly formed

Last night I watched it for the second time. I'd seen it at the cinema two years ago, then last night my boyfriend, who hadn't seen it, decided to rent it. I loved it first time round, I loved it second time round, maybe even a tad more than I did originally. With wonderfully engaging characters all round, the film is endowed with a great sense of humour, both visual and verbal (and those Europhobic old Brits keep going on about how the Germans have no sense of humour!), it's socially relevant yet easier to watch than a straight comedy. The script is intelligent yet accessible to anyone, even a shallow teenager with no attention span whatsoever... yet IT is never shallow. And most of all, it's a deeply moving little gem of a film which however never abuses its secure grip on the heart-strings. I could see even my boyfriend was dewy-eyed at some points! And so was I, even more than two years ago. A small but perfectly formed film, it's actually not as small as one might think at first impact. Love (specifically, filial love) is its main theme, treated in a schmaltz-free, fresh, non-superficial and a non-clichéd manner.