Good Bye, Lenin.

My Rating

(out of 5 envelopes):

MPAA Rating: R

Runtime: 112 minutes

Genre: Foreign, Comedy, Drama

I don’t know about you, but I never learned about, or perhaps even thought about, the transition from socialism to democracy for the people for East Germany. Even though this film is about an unrealistic(but highly entertaining) story of one family, it still captures the heart of the transition.

Good Bye, Lenin! is the story of Alex Kerner and his family. When Alex’s mother sees him at an anti-communist rally, she has a heart attack and goes into a coma. When she wakes up, her doctor tells Alex and his sister that their mother’s heart can’t handle too much excitement or surprise. The problem is, she doesn’t know that the wall has fallen. Worried that her roommate at the hospital would tell her about it, Alex decides to take her home and tries to recreate the world as it was before the wall fell. But how far is he willing to go to keep his mother from finding out?

Even though all of the references don’t necessarily make sense to me(being that I live in the United States) but the main ideas transfer over easily. Change is hard, especially one as major as this. One of my favorite parts of this movie was seeing how East Germany from its own perspective. I feel like I’ve only seen films that express the negatives of socialism. I felt that this film wasn’t completely biased towards that prospective and that it was a nice change to see. As far as the actual changing away from socialism, it felt realistic. Not everyone was happy with the change, and there were moments where people missed the way things used to be.

This movie is definitely worth your time. It's funny and touching and really does make you think about how we take everyday things such as Coca Cola and Burger King for granted.

Netflix Page for Good Bye, Lenin.