Member review

If you want to watch a film that’s not only a serious event in the history of Germany delivered in such a powerful way but also a film that has many light hearted ‘giggle’ moments, then Wolfgang Becker’s masterpiece may be just the thing. Goodbye, Lenin explores these issues while telling a story that's both funny and emotionally involving, it can have you clutching your stomach in pain from laughter one second, then having a breakdown the next. The main unfolding of the narrative arguably occurs while Christine is in a state of coma, and the division between East and West Germany (the Berlin Wall) is knocked down. When Christine awakes from this coma, the doctors warn her son Alex and daughter Ariane, that the mildest of excitement could be enough to kill her. This leads to Alex deciding to keep the re-unification from her, making her believe that Germany is still very much divided. As they try to shield Christine from cigarette commercials and the sound of the neighbour’s brand new satellite TV, they become the producers of an increasingly complex fake world surrounding their sick mother's bed. The most amusing part of this film being the scene where Alex goes as far as making completely false news programmes on old pre-recorded videos because of his mother’s demand to watch television, also including the scene where the background of the fake newsroom starts to fall down. However, it’s also important to know that, while Alex may be telling blatant lies to Christine, it is for the greater good because the shock of discovering the truth could kill her. Therefore it can be concluded that the film has a very strong theme of a son’s love and the lengths he’ll go to in order to protect his mum’s health.

This film is certainly deserving of 5 stars based on the fact it’s consistently entertaining, witty and mentally provoking the whole way through while presenting societies considerable changes and how that can seriously affect someone’s life.