re:mote voices

Title: Good Bye Lenin!
Cast: Daniel Brühl, Katrin Saß, Chulpan Khamatova, Maria Simon, Florian Lukas, Alexander Beyer, Burghart Klaußner
Director: Wolfgang Becker

the core of this story. a son's love for his mother. regardless of anything that is an absolute truth in this film. alex's and his family live in east germany, the socialist east. his father goes to the west on business and doesn't come back. his mother is left to raise him and his sister, and throws herself into that and supporting the party.

thats fair enough, but alex, and many others are becoming disillusioned with their supposed great nation. just as this is coming to the surface alex's mum has a heart attack, ending up in a coma. during the period she is in the coma germany is transformed. the wall comes down and the country is set on the path to reunification. this done alex's mum comes out of her coma, but the doctors warn that the slightest shock could kill her.

this makes recent events problematical. but to stop his mother from getting any surprises that she shouldn't, he recreates east germany for her as much as possible. which to a point is fine, because she is bed bound. but with requests for food that is no longer being made, and for a TV things become increasingly difficult.

goodbye lenin is an illustration of a paradigm shift. a country that was working one was is transformed in a big step. the wall comes tumbling down, and everything is different. set into that is a human story, with enough of a quirk to really bring home the process that is ocurring. the eye for detail gives the film a depth - from alex's tireless quest for things that make his mum feel at home, to the stark contrasts of him and his girlfriend attending parties in transformed buildings.
yann tiersen supplies the sound track. as with amelie before this his music is striking and compliments the film well. one downside is that there are actually pieces used here which are also particularly prominent in amelie. more new material would have been preferable of course. but his sound really is just so striking, that becomes the main thing really.

goodbye lenin, a classic without a doubt. and a film that really does need to be seen.