Last weekend I saw “Goodbye, Lenin!” directed by Wolfgang Becker. It takes place in East Berlin, 1989-1990 and centers around a family (mother Christiane, son Alex, daughter Lara). The basic premise is that Christiane is a fervent supporter of the socialist party, and when she has a heart attack in October 1989, falls into a coma for eight months. During that eight months the Berlin Wall falls, Germany is unified, and Eastern Germany is transformed. Therefore when Christiane comes out of her coma and the doctors inform Alex that she cannot withstand any form of excitement, Alex must do everything to keep his mother from discovering what has happened to Eastern Germany.
The most interesting part of this movie (this won’t spoil anything) is that this charade turns into convincing Christiane that Eastern Germany has welcomed new refugees from Western Germany. West Germans have rejected their capitalist and materialistic lives in search of a good hard working, socialist life. It is amazing to ponder what Germany would look like today if that was the case, if it wasn’t the East Germans who rejected their way of life, but the West Germans. If they had truly wanted socialism, and not capitalism. I, of course, believe that could not truly happen if people knew what their life would be like under socialism, but some people truly believed it would be better. Obviously, those who were taken care of financially, who did not have to work hard, who had political positions, were not as enthusiastic about this new world.
This is all to say, “Goodbye, Lenin!” is definitely worth 2 hours of your time.
