Country: Germany
Genre(s): Comedy /
Drama
Director: Wolfgang
Becker
Cast: Daniel Bruhl
/ Katrin Sab / Chulpan Khamatova
Plot
After the fall of the
Berlin Wall, an East German family tries to prevent their passionately
Communist mother, recently awakened from a coma and in ill health, from
learning what has become of her beloved country.
What I Liked
Sometimes all a movie
needs is a good story to satisfy its audience; which makes “Good Bye Lenin!”
even better for having not only an engaging plot but also moving performances
and relatable characters. Such a movie,
with that trifecta of strengths, and helmed by a director who knows how to keep
his ego from getting in the way of those strengths, is able to evoke
heart-warmed smiles and heart-broken tears with equal success.
But it is the storytelling
that is the source of the movie’s real power; not just the sometimes funny,
sometimes hand-wringing nature of the plot itself, but how the characters all
evolve on their own personal journeys and the various lessons they slowly learn
about life, love, and truth. Few films
engage the audience with a family dynamic as interesting and touching as this
one.
What I Didn’t Like
Really no
complaints. This isn’t a movie that will
blow anyone’s mind with style or innovation, but it’s just a solid, no-frills piece
of filmmaking about human beings and life.
Most Memorable Scene
*spoiler alert*
What can only be
assumed to be the mother’s death is such a beautiful moment of both peace and
sadness that my eyes welled up. That
does not happen to me much when I watch movies, but I definitely choked up here.
My Rating: 4 out of 5
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