What a waste of my time!!!

The greatest movie ever made..!

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

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.

Good bye Lenin!In short, this film is about a son and daughter who go to increasingly inventive lengths to protect their mother from the cultural and social changes associated with the fall of the Berlin wall.Daniel Bruhl is superbly cast and #hulpan Khamatova is a fetching co-star who should really demand more screen time.A fascinating tale of a family dealing with the dynamism of political change… Divorced Dads Cinema Club Rating 81% – A heartwarming and entertaining satire

"Good Bye, Lenin!" is a 2003 comedy starring Daniel Bruhl, Katrin Sass, and Maria Simon, directed by Wolfgang Becker, who co-wrote the script.Bruhl, who has since done films such as Inglorious Bastards and The Fifth Estate, plays a young man, Alex Kerner, in an East Berlin family consisting of his mother (Sass), his sister (Simon), and later her husband and child. His father went to West Berlin on business and found love with another woman, and never returned, according to their mother.Alex's mother becomes catatonic after her husband leaves and is committed to a mental institution. She comes home some time later, back to her old self. She becomes a social activist and does work with children, including directing a choir. She even receives a special government award.During a government protest, in which Alex is arrested, his mother, trying to get somewhere, has a heart attack. She goes into a coma. Alex sees on television that Honecker, one of his mother's idols, has resigned. Then the wall comes down. His mother is comatose through it.Alex feels that his mother is too fragile to receive any of this dramatic news, so once she wakes up, he keeps up the illusion that it is still the same old East Germany. He has his aspiring filmmaker friend (Florian Lukas), who now sells satellite systems door to door, produce fake newscasts, which he then puts into a VCR and shows as the current news. Since the supermarkets now contain new food, he has to dig old pickle bottles out of the garbage, disinfect them, put in pickles, and relabel the bottles so she won't know they're no longer available. It's a lot of work, but the doctors aren't sure that his mother will survive, even though she is awake. In the meantime, Alex falls in love with a nurse at the hospital, Lara (Chulpan Khamatova).Really interesting, sometimes dramatic, sometimes poignant, sometimes funny film about all the changes that went on in East Berlin after the wall fell, and the westernization. At one point, when neighbors tell Alex's mother that they are from Wuppertal (in the west), Alex explains that the west is a mess and that many people are emigrating to the east.All the acting is very good, especially from Katrin Sass, who gives a wonderful performance as Alex's mother. Daniel Bruhl as Alex is very earnest as the caring son.All in all, a warm, original story and quite fascinating.

I couldn't say enough good things about this movie. I want to recommend it to anyone with eyes and ears. It has been on my movie list for a few years and I finally watched it. I loved it, I loved it, I loved it. The story is original, the acting is excellent. It was funny, emotional, touching and interesting. The relationships between the characters are so complex and real. The plot may be a little far-fetched but it was compelling and I was there for the whole ride.This movie is really about the bonds between family and friends, which I think make the best movies, set during the restless period during the end of the cold war.I know I haven't told you about the actual plot but just read the summary and dive in. It is wunderbar.