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Directed by: Wolfgang Becker Starring: Chulpan Khamatova as Lara; Daniel Brühl as Alex; Katrin Saß as Christiane Christiane Kerner is married to the Democratic Republic of East Germany, her husband having left her years ago. Her son Alex grows up in East Germany and goes to college, but midway through his mother falls into a coma. When she awakens, the Wall has fallen and the border between the two countries is weakening. Trying not to shock her, Alex refurnishes his apartment in the old East German style, and tries to keep her away from the tide of capitalism. As the fall of socialism progresses, though, his play becomes increasingly elaborate, and sometimes hilarious. This movie is a lighthearted comedy, but it also prompts some serious questions. We get the impression that Alex is the puppetmaster, but he is merely a college kid and can be deceived himself. What exactly is the nature of his intricate facade? The best scene in this movie is the statue of Lenin flying across the sky.  5/5 Shii fucked around with this message at 04:25 on Jun 15, 2004 |
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May 2, 2004 16:13
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| # ? Apr 24, 2024 13:43 |
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This movie would have been alot more funnier if the soundtrack wasnt so dreary.
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May 2, 2004 16:54
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Saw it yesterday, very good and enjoyable.
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May 2, 2004 17:24
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In full agreement, this is a great film, and I highyl recomend it to anyone, even if they are not a fan of foreign language film
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May 2, 2004 17:32
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This film is in my native language (German) and therefore has no "foreign film bonus" for me. That said, there is a whole movement in German film since the beginning of the 90s, in which a particular kind of dramaturgy and style is used. Every time I see one of these "new German films" I am utterly bored because they all seem the same to me. Of course, there's always a different story but I usually have a total lack of affection for any of the characters or for what happens to them. I did enjoy Lola Runs and a couple other films of this style because it was innovative but the majority of German films I find totally uninteresting. I will refrain from voting on this film since my gripes with it are based on my gripes with the German film of the 90s in general.
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May 2, 2004 22:17
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I thought it was alright, but didn't really bring anything new to the table. The characters fell too easily into the roles of hero, sidekick, downtrodden innocent, romantic interest, etc. that we've seen done exactly the same way so many times before. Also it seems a little implausible. At some point, the main character's mom would HAVE to step outside and figure out for herself what's going on, at which point it would probably be much more shocking to know that she'd been deceived for months since awaking from her coma. 3/5
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May 2, 2004 22:22
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quote:altie came out of the closet to say:
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May 2, 2004 22:46
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quote:Shii came out of the closet to say:
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May 2, 2004 23:07
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Here is a review i wrote a while back: "I saw Goodbye Lenin tonight, loving awesome movie, I'd highly recommend it. But I view it from a different context, when compared to most other Americans. I as an 8 year old saw the collapse of the Soviet Union and the establishment of a free market economy in a matter of years in a country that was not ready, in the slightest sense. I saw the chaos and the false liberty, and this makes me appreciate this film that much more. Especially the "pioneers", the Lada taxies and the hopelessly patriotic songs. Why can't american film makers make a comedy that's melancholy but at the same time uplifting, without being saccharine and sarcastic?"
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May 2, 2004 23:11
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quote:Doctor Nick came out of the closet to say: didn't Yann Tiersen do the music for this? I haven't seen it yet, but his name kinda roped me in. I'm sorry to hear that it's "dreary".
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May 2, 2004 23:36
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quote:zoomzip came out of the closet to say: Yes, he did. That's what originally attracted my attention about the movie. I don't know that it's really that "dreary", but it's pretty typical for what Yann Teirsen writes and not your typical film score. The range of styles he uses in Good Bye Lenin is a bit wider than in Amelie. Oh yeah, and the movie is good too.
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May 15, 2004 21:09
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I saw this a couple weeks ago but I forgot to post a review in here. I thought the movie had one of the most awesome premises in movie history and thus I had very high expectations going in. I wouldn't say the movie disappointed me but it wasn't quite what I expected it to be. The movie was very good and the execution of the plot was nice, but after a while the premise started to stretch thin as they went to more and more extreme lengths to preserve the facade. Still, I liked the ending and the movie as a whole was good, I just think if it wouldn't have got so extreme towards the end and was maybe 10 or 15 minutes shorter, it would have worked quite a bit more. 3.5/5
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Jun 13, 2004 18:55
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After seeing so many previews of this when watching foreign flicks, I had to see it. The previews portrayed it as a situational comedy with a guy who tried to keep convincing his mother that they still were living in pre-wall crumbling Germany. It delivered this; but at a SLOW SLOW PACE. The humor was non-existent because of the depressing mood the film gives and the beating to death of trying to keep his mother from knowing. Not worth seeing if you are expecting humor, but it's a good drama. 1.5/5
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Jun 15, 2004 04:17
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quote:Shii came out of the closet to say: No, she didn't. She was told the westerners came over because the capitalistic west broke down.
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Jun 15, 2004 17:16
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quote:Geodude came out of the closet to say: See, this is the kind of review that's loving worthless, you acknowledge that it is in fact a good movie, but it's not what you expected...hence you gave it a 1.5?! Nice logic there bro..
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Jun 15, 2004 18:29
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I liked this movie quite a bit. I think it is lighthearted enough for the casual film fan, and yet poignant enough for those looking for something deeper. If you are interested in the reconstruction of Germany or German history I highly recommend you see this movie. Some of the stuff about the money swapping and the getting used to capitalism in general is really interesting to see from the side that lived it. Check it out... it's probably not for everyone but if the subject interests you, you shouldn't be disappointed. 4/5
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Jun 16, 2004 06:55
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This movie was great. Also, if you're learning German, it's an excellent watch because there's just enough slang to teach you a little but mostly proper German so that you can understand most of it. I also enjoyed the story (duh) and found it to be a very endearing story with some excellent, high(er)-brow laughs. 4/5
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Jun 17, 2004 01:15
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Great movie. I've taken quite a few 20th century Russian lit and history courses at school (I'm *this* close away from majoring in the damned stuff) and it was neat to see their East German equivilents. My favourite such moment was the explanation for the huge Coca Cola ad outside the mother's window- it actually being a socialist drink that was stolen from the Revolutionaries by the Capitalist West. Yes, it was dark--I was expecting more of a zany comedy of errors like most of us here--but still an interesting, hilarious, AND sad movie that's worth checking out. Of course, the fact that Chulpan Khamatova is smoking hot was only the icing on the cake, as it were  4.5/5
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Jun 17, 2004 02:04
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I thought this movie was pretty good, despite the problems with plausibility already mentioned. The characters were well done and the movie carried itself well-no lags in plot. It was emotional enough to make me feel for the characters but not feel manipulated by "touching" scenes, like I find in many American movies. It also had this quiet sense of humor, which may not be what most were expecting, but I thought it fit well with the rest of the movie. By quiet, I mean that the movie was not based around trying to be funny, but the funny scenes were incorporated into the movie quite well. It was neat watching the movie in German without needing subtitles, because I know enough German now to understand. Also, I saw it with two girls who had been raised under Soviet Russia, and they went wild with all the things they remember from their childhood, like the brands of food and a song playing in the background. 4/5
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Jun 21, 2004 04:00
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| # ? Apr 24, 2024 13:43 |
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I saw this a few months ago, very very good 4/5
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Jun 21, 2004 04:53
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