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 & 21 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 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.

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Plot Keywords:

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

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Taglines:

The German Democratic Republic lives on -- in 79 square meters!

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for brief language and sexuality

Did You Know?

Trivia

CGI was used extensively to "de-Westernize" Berlin. Even though it's mostly shot in the former East Berlin and much of the film takes place after the fall of the wall, it's been Westernized since at a furious rate. Many ads for Western products had to be removed, and many colors had to be lightened or grayed significantly.

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Goofs

As Alex is being driven away from his mother in the truck at night, you can see faint blue sky in the background.

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Quotes

Ariane Kerner: You were in a coma. Eight months ago.
Christiane Kerner: Eight months? What happened?
Ariane Kerner: Yeah, it was...
Alexander Kerner: It was in October, in the supermarket. There was this enormous queue and it was really hot and you just passed out.
Christiane Kerner: In October?
Alexander Kerner: It was a really hot October. At the time.

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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 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

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Soundtracks

Freie Deutsche Jugend, Bau Auf
Written by Reinhold Limberg

User Reviews

clever and amusing comedy

Just as Rip Van Winkle slept through the American Revolution and woke up twenty years later to find himself a citizen of a brand new country, so Kathrin Sass, an East German woman, slips into a coma on the eve of the fall of the Berlin Wall only to wake up eight months later a member of a capitalist society. This is the premise of 'Good Bye Lenin,' a clever and affectionate tale about truth, love and family ties that transcends all national borders and boundaries.

Kathrin, a woman who has dedicated her life to the perpetuation of Communist Party ideology, suffers a major heart attack that plunges her into a comatose state a few months prior to the dissolution of the land she knows as East Germany. While she is 'asleep,' governments tumble, barriers crumble and a whole new tide of Western goods and values comes flooding eastwards to a ravenous, eagerly awaiting public. Then she wakes up. Fearing that the shock of finding such a radically changed world will lead to a second heart attack, her loving son, Alex, devises an elaborate scheme to shield her from the truth and to make her believe that the world she lives in now is the same world she knew eight months before (the basic premise is not that different from the one in 'Jacob the Liar').

'Good Bye Lenin!' is an amusing regional comedy that derives its laughs from two basic sources: the near-slapstick nature of the charade Alex is attempting to perpetrate, and the script's satirical view of a society rushing madly to embrace the joys of unbridled consumerism they have been so long denied. Given its gimmicky premise, 'Good Bye Lenin!' could have emerged as a one-joke comedy were it not for the fine sense of irony and absurdity that writer/director Wolfgang Becker (working with co-writer Bernd Lichtenberg) has brought to the project. In addition, young Daniel Bruhl as Alex and Katrin Sab as Kathrin deliver expert, moving performances that go to the very essence of the mother/child relationship.

I must confess that this film, despite its generally upbeat tone, brings with it a certain rueful sadness that the filmmakers may not exactly have intended. Could it really have been a mere fifteen years ago that the events depicted in this film actually happened - a mere fifteen years ago that the future of the human race seemed so full of joy, hope and promise? Now, in a post 9/11 world - where sectarian hatred and international terrorism rule the day - this image of people coming together to cast off the shackles of bondage and embrace freedom seems already like a quaint memory from the long distant past. In a strange way, the film has become something of a relic in its own time, outstripped by a world that has long since moved on to bigger and more dire concerns. 'Good Bye Lenin' reminds us of just how long ago and far away the Cold War really was.

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:

EUR4,800,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$57,968, 29 February 2004

Gross USA:

$4,064,200

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$79,316,957

Company Credits

Production Co:

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

Technical Specs

Runtime:

121 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color Black and White (archive footage)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1