Movie 2006.03.30 - Good Bye, Lenin!

A heart-warming story about a mother and a son, and the great lengths he took to prevent her from finding out that her beloved East German world has disappeared during the time she was in coma, lest she suffers a fatal shock.

The movie moves along slowly, but it never feels dragging. We learn about Alex' fascination with the stars and cosmonauts. His father defects to West Germany and his Mom goes into depression. When she recovered, she became a devoted Socialist. One time, Alex joins a protest march promoting reunification, and his Mom saw him being assaulted by the police and taken away. She fainted on the street and slipped into coma. This is where the story begins. During the eight months that she had been in coma, the Berlin Wall came falling down, President Honecher has resigned, the German Democratic Republic no more, Alex now has a Russian girlfiend, and his sister Ariane works at Burger King. Alex figures his Mom and her weak heart will never be able to survive these once she recovers, so he recreates a pre-1989 world for her. He brings back all their old furniture. He asks his sister to wear their old, uncool clothes. He redecorates their house to how it was before - East German style. He goes around rummaging for old GDR-era bottles and food packages to fill with Western imports, and pretend they are GDR groceries (that are not available anymore).

There has been a number of close calls. Once she saw a giant ad for Coca-Cola on a nearby building. One time, Alex dropped off to sleep, and his Mom wandered off into the streets with all the new cars and West Germans. Alex explained that the West Berliners like their way of life, so they're taking refuge here. He even got his budding filmmaker of a friend to make fake news broadcasts and play them back on the TV to ease her confusion. Interestingly enough, Alex begins to appreciate the old regime and long for the past, and all the fantasy he created is more for his own consumption than his Mom. "The GDR I was creating for my mother was more like the GDR I would have wished."

His Mom eventually found out about the truth, and she passed away a year later, and after revealing that their Dad didn't actually abandon them. He did defect to the West, but the plan was for Christiane to bring along Alex and Ariane. Unfortunately, she got cold feet at the last moment and opted to stay. All these years, their father have been writing them letters, but she kept them hidden behind the cupboard. When Alex found him, he's already a successful doctor with a happy family. At least, he got to have a good talk with Christiane one last time.

Best part of the movie is when Christiane first got out of the apartment. A helicopter flew by down the street right in front of her with a partial bust of Lenin with his right hand outstretched. Awesome.