I agree with many of the above comments. This film was very interesting. It had a deeper message than just the superficial, funny aspects of the movie. Viewers are able to learn about Germany during the time of the DDR. We also are able to empathize with Alex and wonder what we would do in a similar situation. Would we lie to our mom to protect her from having another heart attack or tell her that the wall came down? This movie not only asks us this moral question but we also see the dynamic between the various other relationships in the film. Alex's father leaves the family behind but he doesn't totally forget about them. He still writes letters which the mother hides. Was he a good father? Would he have come back if they would have written him back? Why did the mom hide the letters? Could the reason she hid the letters have to do with her newfound love: the DDR?

"Good Bye Lenin!" is a German film from 12 years ago that runs pretty much exactly 2 hours and features some of Germany's most known actors back then and today: Daniel Brühl, Katrin Saß, Maria Simon, Florian Lukas, Christine Schorn, Michael Gwisdek and Burghart Klaußner. A lot of these also received quite some awards recognition for their work here and this movie in general is among the most famous German films abroad as well, especially looking at movies made in the 21st century. I would say that only "Lives of Others" and "Downfall" are more famous from recent German films. So "Good Bye Lenin!" also scored a Golden Globe nomination and BAFTA nomination as well as tons of wins at the European Film Awards, German Film Awards and other ceremonies all around the globe.The story is a bit absurd, but as a whole they made it work I guess. A woman (devoted socialist) is in a coma and misses the Fall of the Berlin Wall and the German Reunification. When she wakes up, her children are instructed from the doctor that they have to keep any drama and tension away from her, so what is their plan? They act as if nothing happened and re-enact the GDR for her. When she leaves the apartment one day, they just make it look as if it was all the other way around: People from the FRG fleeing into the GDR so that she does not start to have doubts in her political ideals. And in the end, the fall of the Berlin Wall upside down as well. I think this is a good movie and the script is certainly the biggest strength. Well-written and as no less than 5 people worked on the script, this is finally not a case of too many cooks. Besides writer and director Wolfgang Becker, the most crucial one may be Bernd Lichtenberg and I am really surprised to see that he did not make any other scripts for movies in the last 12 years.Anyway, there are moments in terms of comedy and drama in this film that did not entirely convince me, but I don't think it was bad enough to leave a sour note on the film overall. All in all, I guess Becker found the right mixture between these 2 genres. Still I must say that I didn't feel that the acting was as outstanding in here that it would have justified all these awards. Then again, I am far from being a great Daniel Brühl fan. Still, I like some of his works, for example "Das Weiße Rauschen" or "Rush", which almost got him Oscar-nominated. My favorite scene was probably the one with him at his father's party. Great fan of Burghart Klaußner here and he was brilliant in this couple minutes. The ending with the mother's death and what they showed her finally was very good too. The film could maybe have been a bit more essential if they had done without some of the insignificant scenes. As a summary, I would say that it's a good movie, not a great one, but very much worth watching for everybody with an interest in German history. Recommended.However, I have to finish this review on a negative note. Becker and Brühl reunited recently for a new film and I read about an interview where Brühl compares their longtime collaboration with the one between Herzog and Kinski. All I can say about this is that Herzog has made brilliant films for decades and I cannot see anything in Becker's filmography that comes close to the genius if Herzog's finest works. And Brühl to Kinski is goldfish to whale. No need to further elaborate on that. Looks like his awards recognition really cost Brühl his sanity. Shame, he shows glimpses of talent in some of his works.

The film is one of my favourites of all time, and is the best film I've seen that best conveyed why people, despite the repression of USSR and its economic failures, still look back fondly on the Soviet republic and remain committed to the ideals of socialism.The main character, played by Daniel Bruhl, captures quite well the inner struggles of what I would imagine the then GDR citizen. On the one hand, fed up with a system that no longer works and skeptical of the party leadership, and on the other, resiliently holding the hope that the ideals of socialism materialise. Through his journey with his family, I seem to understand how the raft of changes affected the citizens of the GDR. At the end, when that familiar tune takes over, and Arianne show some surprising emotions, it's hard to resist a sense of sorrow that way of life, that system of beliefs, could very much be a relic of history.Overall, a well-executed film worth watching, with characters that you could empathise with.

This German film is both light- hearted and serious. It was filmed in 2001 and is set in 1989 to 1990 during East Germany's collapse of Communism especially the fall of the infamous Berlin Wall and the end of Checkpoint Charlie. Alexander Lerner is a young East German man who lives with his mother, Kristiane, and his sister, Ariane, and Ariane's infant daughter, Paula, in an East Berlin apartment. Alex is young and taking part in the revolution against Communism. His mother is a devout comrade and dedicated to Communism ever since her husband left for the West. When his mother suffers a heart attack, Alex takes extreme measures to allow his mother to think that East Germany still exists even though Germany has reunited. This movie parallels German's separation and reunification. There are several light moments in the film. The actress who plays the mother has done a splendid job in the role and so does Daniel Bruhl playing her son. This film is definitely worth watching even if you don't know German. It's a film you have to see. This film shows the power of film-making.