Watch Good Bye, Lenin! For Free

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Communism has a bad rep sometimes. Yes, there was fear and state control and all the bad stuff, but in all honesty, the counterparts of the Cold War had imperialism (culminating in the german version of hell from the second world war) and racism and other ills - the first black person to space was sent by the Soviets, as well as the first man and first woman, fact worth thinking about. But there is another, gentler side to the regime, in which many people believed and had some legitimate if naive reasons to do so. This movie is a sincere portrayal of Ostalgie, a nostalgic love of the communism, notwithstanding its faults. A version of it exists in many ex communist countries, from Yugoslavia (where given what came after its dissolution, and given the mild nature of the communist regime that gave populace much better lives they had compared to other communist countries or any time before or after, yugonostalgia is very strong) to post Soviet countries to East Germany.Brain washed Americans and some other western people might find this strange but this is heartfelt, true and authentic phenomenon that they might well try to get to understand. This movie might help, so watch it with an open mind. You should, because it is a gem.

The performances in "Good Bye Lenin!" are very good by the entire cast, and this is an interesting angle for a German film about the changes in East Berlin after the fall of the Soviet Union. It's two stories, really, the overall one being about a tight-knit family from East Berlin, especially the devotion of a young man for his mother. The family appeared to be much better off than many others in East Berlin before 1980 – about 10 years before the Berlin Wall came down. We don't see the father, a doctor who supposedly abandoned his family and fled the Iron Curtain. The Mutter, played by Katrin Sass, has a mental breakdown. After she is returned home and recovered, she begins devoting her time to all things Soviet as a loyal citizen of the state. Ten years pass, and the devoted son, Alex (played by Daniel Bruhl) is bored with life. The picture we see is one of a great laxity among the populace. It's October 1989, and the people are restless, the economy is in shambles, and the Soviet leaders no longer have the heavy hands to control the people. Mutter suffers a heart attack, just as she sees Alex being taken away by a couple of East German Police where he had been walking in a throng of protesters. The film isn't billed as a comedy, but it has some comedy in it. After eight months, Mutter comes out of her coma. But she isn't to be startled or she could suffer a relapse and die. She isn't given that much of a chance as is. Alex moves her back to their apartment. They have to restore it with the old furnishings. He tries to make things as they were eight months earlier, because all of the changes that have happened would be sure to shock her. The rest of the film shows the efforts, orchestrated by Alex, to have Mutter still think she's living under the shadow of her bellowed Lenin. But how long can he keep her from finding the truth? The last quarter of the film is the best part. The comedy is very good here, the love of family shines through with the characters, and the truth finally comes out, with Mutter dying happily. The film is rated R for nudity and some of the language.

When I first heard about Good Bye, Lenin, I was told it was a comedy. I went into the movie expecting to be laughing a majority of the time. Though it was funny in some parts, I found a good portion of the movie to be rather sad. Good Bye, Lenin tells the story of a boy named Alex whose father fled to East Germany, an event that nearly destroyed the will of his mother. After eight months struggling to get better, Alex's mother returns to the real world and dedicates her life to the DDR. 10 years later Alex's mother has a heart attack which leaves her in a coma for eight months. During this time the DDR and the Berlin wall fall. When his mother wakes up, Alex is warned not to excite her. He decides to recreate the life his mother knew, a time before the wall fell. It starts out as a good plan, but Alex soon realizes that this has taken on a life of its own. He soon starts creating fake newscasts with his friend Denis to help explain the "Westernization" that is happening outside his mother's bedroom window. It is a tragic comedy that explores themes of love, family, and tragedy. I really enjoyed this film. I found what Alex did for his mother to be very sweet, but also kind of crazy. He literally recreates everything that his mother remembers in order to keep her from having another heart attack. What Alex doesn't realize is how hard it will be to keep up the charade. He does this all out of love for his mother. I couldn't even imagine being in his position. I think his actions show how much he loves and cares about his family. He tries as hard as he can to make things as normal as he can. Though that puts a strain on the relationship with his sister and girlfriend, he keeps up the charade to make life easier for his mother. The theme of tragedy is also present throughout the film. Alex has had a difficult life. His father fled to the West when he was very young, and he hasn't seen him in years, his mother falls ill twice, and he is stuck living with his sister and her new boyfriend while their mother receives treatment. Alex tries as hard as he can to help his mother enjoy her life, even while she's on bed rest, but in the end everything is futile. Alex can't save his mother. As his charade gets bigger, it begins to take on a mind of its own, and Alex must become more creative. He works very hard, but in the end it doesn't matter. He loses someone he really cares about, and there is nothing he can do about it. What is really interesting is the way that space is incorporated throughout the film. When first watching it is hard to understand why the director made the choice to include those elements. My theory is that it is a symbol for what Alex wants life to be like. Up in space everything is simple. There are no problems, and it is peaceful. Back on earth, Alex's life is incredibly complicated. He can't escape his problems. Nothing about his life is easy, especially as he continues to grow up. Space represents the life that Alex wishes he could have, and the life that Germany could have if everything was simplified. Overall this film is great. It makes you laugh, cry, and think. There is so much history to be learned too. It is like you're experiencing both east and west Germany at the same time as these people. For someone who was not around when the wall fell, I found it very interesting to see the way people reacted, and how the east became more of a consumer culture based on influence from the West. I would recommend this movie to anyone who wants to learn about history while also watching great character-driven story.

The soundtrack written by Yann Tiersen is perfect. The soundtrack is the first thing you notice when you start to watch this film.The film isn't complicated and simple enough, so everyone can understand it, even the dumbest persons. What is the main scene of the film? This is probably when they go at the Datsche, the mother's monologue. (or probably it's when the mother sees Lenin flying bound to a helicopter?)It simply shows the aspects of the life in a socialistic state and the aspects of being an Ossi, the notions of an Ossi. And of course the problems of that time.I wouldn't say it's a comedy, I think it's a tragical movie. It develops the aspect of belief of the Ossis in their state, of the bigotry of the socialistic states, of the belief that their socialistic(communistic) system is superior to capitalistic countries, though it also shows that far not all of the Ossis were really such communistic fanatics and most even didn't care of the crash of their state. There is even a quasi-triumph of the DDR shown in the end.Of all three movies showing the life in the DDR I have watched this one is the best.