"The country my mother left behind was a country she believed in; a country we kept alive till her last breath; a country that never existed in that form; a country that, in my memory, I will always associate with my mother."
In 1990, to protect his fragile mother from a ... read more
Daniel Brühl,
Katrin Sass,
Chulpan Khamatova,
Maria Simon,
Florian Lukas
... see more
A dedicated young German boy pulls off an elaborate scheme to keep his mother in good health in this comedy drama from director Wolfgang Becker. Suffering a heart attack and falling into a coma after ... read more
Directed by: Wolfgang Becker
Release Date: February 27, 2004
DVD Release Date: August 10, 2004
Stats: 3,448 reviews
Your Rating
Flixster Reviews (3,448)
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September 30, 2009
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September 14, 2009
Alexander Beyer's performance is brilliant in this quirky German film set during the fall of the Berlin wall. Wolfgang Becker really needs to make more films.
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June 29, 2008
Alex's mother falls into a coma just as the Berlin Wall comes down. Eight months later, she wakes up. Alex is told that any stress can give his mom another heart attack, so he decides to hide the fact that East Germany has fallen.
I enjoyed this movie. I could see why Alex ... read more -
August 13, 2007
I love movies that make me both cry and laugh, and Good Bye Lenin is filled to the brim with those moments. The Lives of Others was another film about the Berlin Wall coming down, but while that one emphasized how messed up the DDR (or GDR? I'm so confused) was, Good Bye Lenin il... read more
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June 9, 2007
Absolutely hilarious and wonderfully heartwarming. Many nuanced relationships to identify with.
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May 12, 2007
This is one of those intelligent comedies that few people know about, I wonder why. Oh yes they prefer to watch White Chicks.
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September 16, 2006
This was my first german film that I managed to watch all in german, without english subtitles.
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April 17, 2004
[color=black]Is deliberately using the word "random" supposed to be some sort of irony? It's weird, but I've seen people try to do this as a sort of tongue-in-cheek maneuver. Huh? Fallacy, I say! Words, people! They're words, which are merely collections of simple symbols configu... read more
Critic Reviews
Charming and eventually poignant. Full Review
A funny movie that rises above farce to the level of sophisticated satire. Full Review
It is a sweethearted comedy about the fall of Communism and the lingering nostalgia for an East Germany that no longer exists.
Watching Becker invent new challenges and new solutions in scene after scene makes Good Bye, Lenin! a joyous show, blurred by tears of sympathy. Full Review
Serves up an odd but intriguing situation.
It is no doubt filled with references and in-jokes we do not quite understand. But the central idea travels well. Full Review
Good Bye, Lenin! beautifully mixes comedy, sentimentality, and cynicism. Full Review
Becker ably milks the premise for irony and amusement. Full Review
A deft balance of wistful family drama and drollery.
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