On paper, the plot doesn't seem all that uplifting or even funny: in reunified 1990s Germany, young Alex (Daniel Brühl) pulls out all the stops to convince his ailing mother Christiane (Katrin Saß) that things are as they were in the German Democratic Republic. This includes fake news segments, people masquerading as other people, replacing food product packages with old East German ones, and keeping Christiane away from anything that even implies the Berlin Wall's fall and influx of commercialism.
Yet it is. It really is. This is one of those films I've always had a great fondness for, recommending it to people in passing, but the more I think about it, it's a very remarkable achievement. One of the things that annoyed me about the reception to Toni Erdmann, in addition to finding it quite overrated, was the reaction that Germany comedy was some sort of revelation, some hitherto untouched territory. Um, no. Good Bye, Lenin! is not only miles better a film than Toni Erdmann, it's so much more than just a simple feel-good comedy. It takes on a very tricksy subject matter and infuses genuine heart and pathos to it, without ever losing sight of the laughs.
Brühl, who's now a fairly big name in Hollywood, is simply outstanding as our naive lead whose gradual growth throughout the film is so wonderfully handled. Saß, with the more reactionary role, is also terrific in showing not just the humorous side of her 'fish out of water' antics, but also the strong core of motherly love for her son. The supporting cast are all stellar too, particularly Robert Carlyle-lookalike Florian Lukas as Alex's best friend who helps him out with some truly hilarious fake news segments. Episodic the film may be to an extent, it never loses sight of its central focus of a loving mother/son, and despite it gradually progressing into a more dramatic film by its conclusion, the tragicomedy is perfectly played. It's hard to explain why, but despite technically being a bit downbeat towards the end, there's few films I find more intrinsically uplifting than this.
This is a delightful film that is quite popular, I know, but I do feel that if you haven't seen it, to not be put off by the hype: it's terrific.
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