FILM OF THE WEEK
INTERVIEW | review: Good Bye Lenin! |
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| Written by Boyd van Hoeij | |
| Friday, 06 February 2004 | |
 Good Bye Lenin! would make for a great companion piece to the Canadian tragicomedy Les invasions barbares (The Barbarian Invasions); both have at their centre an emotional drama involving real human beings, whilst the story mixes in comedy and social-political commentary, with Lenin commenting on Western/Eastern Europe and Invasions doing the same for North America. Invasions is heavier on the drama whilst Lenin is a bit lighter, though this does not mean it is less aware of its political undercurrents. If they would be presented as a sandwich feature, they would perfectly balance each other, giving the audiences much to laugh about, but also some heart-felt drama and food for thought covering the modern political West.Wolfgang Becker’s film works foremost as a picture about a boy’s love for his mother. All the events follow from this basic principle. It is early October 1989, and East Germany is preparing for its 40th anniversary. Christiane (Katrin Sass) is the mother of two teenagers: Alexander (Daniel Brühl) and Ariane (Maria Simon). The three of them live in a 79 m2 flat in East-Berlin. Their father has fled to the West, leaving them behind when they were small kids; Christiane decided at that moment to "wed the socialist fatherland" instead. She becomes an active participant and is even honoured by the party. Alexander does not agree with his mother, but never says so out loud. It soon becomes clear why: when his mother sees him participate in a demonstration for more freedom of press, she suffers from a heart attack on the spot and remains in a coma. When she wakes up after eight months, Alexander (who has now been released from prison where he was held for his participation in the demonstration) is allowed to take his mother home. There is only one problem: the Berlin Wall has come down in the meantime and the doctors have explicitly forbidden any shocking news or changes for Chrisiane because of her unstable condition. Alexander, in an act of love, decides that his bed-ridden mother’s socialist fatherland will continue to prosper inside her own bedroom. The collapse of East Germany is not an easy thing to hide, however: state produced foods and clothes are being replaced by Western market economy products (‘Pickles from Holland!’) and soon advertising and commercial TV invade the East. Much of the comedy consists of Alexander’s attempts to let East Germany continue to thrive in one bedroom whilst the newly arrived democracy robs him of the means to do just that. The story is well-wrought and the comedy all stems from the central story, rather than being seperate funny pieces that have been welded together by a rickety narrative. There are funny moments with the new West German boyfriend of Alexander’s sister, who has to pretend to be from the East when with his prospective mother-in-law, and Alexander has to bribe several acquaintances and school kids to pretend as if nothing happened at a birthday-party for his mother. A Coca-Cola advertisement on the apartment-block Christiane can see from her window gets a fun explanation by way of a faked TV special taped by a colleague from Alexander especially for the occasion. There is also a sub-plot linking Alexander romantically to the Soviet-born nurse Lara (Chulpan Khamatova) at the hospital where his mother was treated and Becker tells their story with great care and sense of realism. She thinks he should tell his mother, and he does not, and they argue over it but it is nothing bombastic and does not distract the attention from the main story as it would in much Hollywood fare. They do not separate or throw tantrums: they stick together. Apart from being an enjoyable comedy about keeping a big thing secret from someone and being an interesting drama about family ties and values,there are obviously political references. Does Christiane really believe in socialism or is she simply seeking to replace her "lost" husband? Does the fact that Alexander needs to bribe people to become socialists again mean that socialism was really something that no-one wanted? Is Ariane better off working in a market-economy driven Burger King than studying in a socialist state? Does advertising feed people? Goodbye Lenin shows that both Eastern and Western political systems have their flaws and that in the end, it is perhaps more important to look after the people one loves and be near to them. |
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