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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful
The late 80s was a very significant time for German people on either side of the Iron Curtain, East Germans controlled by Communism, and the West Germans controlled by democracy. The biggest problem for both was the wall, they all hated it, as they couldn't travel between East and West Berlin without some sort of documentary evidence.
There was no Coca Cola, McDonald's or Burger King in East Germany, it was all controlled by SED - and they didn't really like western products in the Eastern Bloc.
Christiane Kerner (Katrin Saß) was part of that movement - she was quite a believer in the movement, but her son Alex (Daniel Brühl) didn't really want a split Germany. He went on the protest marches - and his mother spotted him. In shock, she had a heart attack, and now laid in a coma.
Alex does everything he can to help her, but during the coma, The Berlin Wall is knocked down, and West Germany is now linked with East, to form Germany as we know it today. Burger King is now there, and Alex himself becomes a satellite fitter. To save mum having another episode - he has to keep her world as East Germany.
This is a really good movie, even though he's lying to his mother, it's all really funny and done only to save her from dying. I thought the TV reports was the best thing about the film, the way they filmed them themselves to fool his mother into believing that the SED was still going strong. Both leads were excellent, and his girlfriend in the movie; Lara (Chulpan Khamatova ) but really all the cast was very good.
One thing I didn't like about this transfer is the subtitles, as the frames are often very light, the colour of the subs didn't make it easy on the eye to read what was being said, so I had to rely on good old Latin and words that sounded English when it wasn't easy to read the screen. I am surprised they didn't change the colour of the subtitles, as it's very easy to do on a PC nowadays.
The picture and sound was very good though, with a 5.1 mix that was great when the helicopters came over with the head floating in the air.
The extras are not good, only the trailer is on here, which is a real shame - a few interviews would have been superb. Really there's little they could have added otherwise.
Worth a look, it's a light-hearted movie that made me laugh and feel sad at the same time.
There was no Coca Cola, McDonald's or Burger King in East Germany, it was all controlled by SED - and they didn't really like western products in the Eastern Bloc.
Christiane Kerner (Katrin Saß) was part of that movement - she was quite a believer in the movement, but her son Alex (Daniel Brühl) didn't really want a split Germany. He went on the protest marches - and his mother spotted him. In shock, she had a heart attack, and now laid in a coma.
Alex does everything he can to help her, but during the coma, The Berlin Wall is knocked down, and West Germany is now linked with East, to form Germany as we know it today. Burger King is now there, and Alex himself becomes a satellite fitter. To save mum having another episode - he has to keep her world as East Germany.
This is a really good movie, even though he's lying to his mother, it's all really funny and done only to save her from dying. I thought the TV reports was the best thing about the film, the way they filmed them themselves to fool his mother into believing that the SED was still going strong. Both leads were excellent, and his girlfriend in the movie; Lara (Chulpan Khamatova ) but really all the cast was very good.
One thing I didn't like about this transfer is the subtitles, as the frames are often very light, the colour of the subs didn't make it easy on the eye to read what was being said, so I had to rely on good old Latin and words that sounded English when it wasn't easy to read the screen. I am surprised they didn't change the colour of the subtitles, as it's very easy to do on a PC nowadays.
The picture and sound was very good though, with a 5.1 mix that was great when the helicopters came over with the head floating in the air.
The extras are not good, only the trailer is on here, which is a real shame - a few interviews would have been superb. Really there's little they could have added otherwise.
Worth a look, it's a light-hearted movie that made me laugh and feel sad at the same time.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
I came accross Goodbye Lenin! rather bizzarely because the music in the film was by the fabulous musician, Yann Tiersen, who most famously soundtracked the french film 'Amelie' in 1997. I have been a fan of Yann's music for years now, and so, knowing the work of Yann Tiersen and knowing that the man never works on bad films, i curiously investigated and thus came accross this gem of a film.
The film ostensibly is about Alex Kerner, his sister Ariane and their mother Christiane, who is a staunch socialist in East Germany. Whilst Alex is on a peaceful march one night in the late 1980s to protest the prescence of the Berlin Wall, Christiane catches him and subsequently has a heart attack which sends her into a coma. Christiane misses on all the major events that took place whilst she is in a coma - including, rather obviously, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of communism. On the event of her waking up several months later, Alex is told that any shock might kill her, and so starts Alex's mission to maintain and recreate the old East Germany within the confines of the family's little flat, protecting his mother from the shock of discovering the collapse of her beloved socialism and everything she previously knew.
The film is in esscence a comedy and much of the comedy in this film comes from Alex trying to, for example, get his hands on products that were sold pre-capitalism, and thus we see Alex running around, looking for products such as Mocha-Fix Gold(coffee),and pickles which are simply no longer sold - all in the name of maintaining the facade. The 'news reports' which Alex creates with his movie-producing friend are very funny indeed, and there are some laugh-out-loud moments to be had in this film :) The film is however also very European, and specifically very German, and therefore gives some very interesting insights into what Berlin was like after the wall came down. There is a fascinating sequence where Alex, who is narrating the film, is looking for a flat, and explains in the voice-over that after the wall came down, people in the East moved to the west and never returned, leaving huge amounts of property in Berlin simply abandoned, free to be claimed by whoever moved in first! This was something that I had never realised, despite knowing my history.
The cast are stellar in this film - particularly Katrin Sass, a notable actress from East Germany, who plays Christiane, and Daniel Bruhl who plays Alex.
This film is charming, clever, warm and uplifting, and frequently very, very funny :) It should be seen by as many people as possible! And Yann Tiersens soundtrack adds enormously to the film too, adding atmosphere and emotion. xxxxx
The film ostensibly is about Alex Kerner, his sister Ariane and their mother Christiane, who is a staunch socialist in East Germany. Whilst Alex is on a peaceful march one night in the late 1980s to protest the prescence of the Berlin Wall, Christiane catches him and subsequently has a heart attack which sends her into a coma. Christiane misses on all the major events that took place whilst she is in a coma - including, rather obviously, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of communism. On the event of her waking up several months later, Alex is told that any shock might kill her, and so starts Alex's mission to maintain and recreate the old East Germany within the confines of the family's little flat, protecting his mother from the shock of discovering the collapse of her beloved socialism and everything she previously knew.
The film is in esscence a comedy and much of the comedy in this film comes from Alex trying to, for example, get his hands on products that were sold pre-capitalism, and thus we see Alex running around, looking for products such as Mocha-Fix Gold(coffee),and pickles which are simply no longer sold - all in the name of maintaining the facade. The 'news reports' which Alex creates with his movie-producing friend are very funny indeed, and there are some laugh-out-loud moments to be had in this film :) The film is however also very European, and specifically very German, and therefore gives some very interesting insights into what Berlin was like after the wall came down. There is a fascinating sequence where Alex, who is narrating the film, is looking for a flat, and explains in the voice-over that after the wall came down, people in the East moved to the west and never returned, leaving huge amounts of property in Berlin simply abandoned, free to be claimed by whoever moved in first! This was something that I had never realised, despite knowing my history.
The cast are stellar in this film - particularly Katrin Sass, a notable actress from East Germany, who plays Christiane, and Daniel Bruhl who plays Alex.
This film is charming, clever, warm and uplifting, and frequently very, very funny :) It should be seen by as many people as possible! And Yann Tiersens soundtrack adds enormously to the film too, adding atmosphere and emotion. xxxxx
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
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This is one of the best, humorous, and cleverest films that I have seen in recent years, and full marks should go to our German colleagues for coming up with such a brilliant gem of a film.
The plot is hugely original, the acting is spot on, and it is very well directed. By and large it deals with the political subject matter gently (apart from the riot scene) and it doesn't get too involved in heavy politics. I am sure that the Germans (both former west and east) feel they need to draw a line under what happened in the past and move on.
I would recommend this film to anyone.
In tandem with 'Goodbye Lenin' I would also recommend another recent German film about the former East Germany called "The lives of others". A far more serious film, it is very good indeed.
The plot is hugely original, the acting is spot on, and it is very well directed. By and large it deals with the political subject matter gently (apart from the riot scene) and it doesn't get too involved in heavy politics. I am sure that the Germans (both former west and east) feel they need to draw a line under what happened in the past and move on.
I would recommend this film to anyone.
In tandem with 'Goodbye Lenin' I would also recommend another recent German film about the former East Germany called "The lives of others". A far more serious film, it is very good indeed.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Excellent
Excellent movie! A clever story with a refreshing take on things. Too bad that the socialist German language doesn't translate into subtitles. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Supergrobi18
More Classic Family Drama than Comedy
I saw this film when it was initially released back in 2003 and have only now (2011), following my first visit to Berlin, got around to purchasing the DVD. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Nicholas Casley
John O'Loughlin on 'Goodbye Lenin!'
After watching her son being arrested during a demonstration against the Berlin Wall, an active party member, played by Katrin Sass, faints and slides into a coma which lasts for... Read more
Published 6 months ago by joholin
Jolly good laugh.
I chose this film for my advanced German speaking group. It was very funny and the German was not too difficult to understand although of course there are subtitles too. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Mrs. M. J. Minshull
Excellent service
Goods arrived on time and where in the condition as described. Very satisfied with this transaction. Read more
Published 7 months ago by doro
One of my favorites
I have seen the film before I bought DVD. It is one of my favorites. It is about Germany at the time of the fall of the Berliner wall; about family and the separation; about... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Mrs. Maryna Lytvyn
Goodbye Lenin
This is a gentle but lovely film, Poignant and funny, I really enjoyed it. It gives a bit of an insite to how things changed so rapidly once the Berlin Wall came down and on the... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Rita Arafa
So nostalgic
So touching, so tender, so nostalgic and very realistic if I may say this about the thing wich is a sort of a modern art. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Olexxis
Perfect for history students, mothers, sons, everyone
This was the first German movie I saw (having only seen two so far actually) and I loved it. I first saw it in German class while at high school and I remember being studying this... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Alexander House
Great Film - but with in-vision subtitles
This is a very entertaining film - but the subtitles are in-vision so it's not possible to turn them off if you are using the film as an aid to learning German. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Steven Gale
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