Der Film "Good Bye, Lenin!" von Wolfgang Becker (2003) reflektiert die politischen Ereignisse der deutschen Wiedervereinigung anhand der fiktiven Geschichte der Ostberliner Familie Kerner.
Am 7. Oktober 1989 erleidet Christiane Kerner einen Herzinfarkt und sie erwacht erst acht Monate später - nach dem Mauerfall - wieder aus dem Koma. Um sie zu schonen, beschließen ihre beiden Kinder, die neue politische Situation zu verheimlichen. Alex, der besonders stark an seiner Mutter hängt, will einfach jene "Normalität" fortsetzen, die vor ihrem Herzinfarkt gegolten hat. Er belebt für sie auf 79 Quadratmetern die DDR-Alltagskultur wieder.
Das Heft der bpb zum deutschen Erfolgsfilm in der dritten Auflage und mit neuem Umschlag.
DIRECTOR: Wolfgang Becker
SCREENPLAY: Bernd Lichtenberg
GENRE: Tragicomedy
AWARDS: Deutscher Drehbuch 2002 (Best Screenplay), Blauer Engel (Best European Film) 2003, European Film Academy (Best European Film) 2003
In German
GERMAN RELEASE: Feb. 13, 2003
GERMAN DVD: Sept. 18, 2003
U.S. RELEASE: N/A
European Film Academy (Best European Film) 2003
Up against very strong competition, GOOD BYE, LENIN! was the big winner—with a total of 6 awards—at the 16th annual European Film Academy (EFA) ceremonies in Berlin on December 8, 2003. The German film garnered prizes for best film, best actor (Daniel Brühl) - More...
Good Bye, Lenin!
It's 1989. Alex Kerner (Daniel Brühl) and his single mom Christine (Katrin Sass) live in a tiny 79 sq.m. apartment in East Berlin. Shortly before the Berlin Wall falls and East Germany (the "DDR") becomes history, Alex's mother, a dedicated party activist and DDR supporter, has a heart attack and falls into a coma — and misses the triumph of capitalism. Eight months later, her miraculous awakening and recovery present Alex with a dilemma: How to protect his mother's weakened heart from the shock of Coca-Cola, Burger King, Audis and Mercedes.
Daniel Brühl has to
recreate the DDR.
Photo: X Verleih
His efforts to protect her arise partly out of guilt. After all, his mother collapsed after learning he was participating in an anti-DDR demonstration. But he quickly discovers that his plan to protect mom by creating an artificial "DDR" within their small apartment faces huge obstacles. One of them is a huge Coca-Cola banner hanging within sight of their apartment window. (Talk about product placement!) Another is where to find all the old DDR products that quickly vanished soon after the end of the DDR. His efforts to keep all the historical changes from his mother are both funny and poignant. In the process, Alex reinvents history and creates an entirely new version of what happened while his mother was in a coma. One of the funnier tricks Alex uses to do this is a fake TV news broadcast.
Alex gets a friend to
do a fake DDR newscast.
Photo: X Verleih
I would really like to see this movie, but I haven't had a chance yet, so you'll find reviews from other sources in the links below. German teachers will be glad to know that the producers of GOOD BYE LENIN! have made teaching materials available for this film. Both print and online versions for classroom use are available. (See the links below.) There is also a book with the entire screenplay that will make German teachers happy.
GOOD BYE LENIN! has been sold for release in other countries, including the U.K. and the U.S., but it has not made its way to the U.S. so far. It did well for a foreign film in the UK in the summer of 2003. The film is out on PAL DVD/video in Germany, but there is no subtitled version. It played in German theaters in early 2003. A streaming video trailer is also online (see link below).
Daniel Brühl also appeared in Vaya con Dios (2002), another German comedy. Wolfgang Becker directed another successful German film, DAS LEBEN IST EINE BAUSTELLE (1997). The film music (see the soundtrack CD below) for GOOD BYE, LENIN! is by the French composer Yann Tiersen.
CAST: Daniel Brühl (Alex Kerner), Katrin Sass (mother), Chulpan Khamatova (nurse Lara)
European Film Academy (Best European Film) 2003 (Continued)
Up against very strong competition, GOOD BYE, LENIN! was the big winner—with a total of 6 awards—at the 16th annual European Film Academy (EFA) ceremonies in Berlin on December 8, 2003. The German film garnered prizes for best film, best actor (Daniel Brühl), best screenplay (Bernd Lichtenberg), and three "People's Choice" awards: best actor (Brühl), best actress (co-star Katrin Sass), and best director (Wolfgang Becker). The EFA awards are sometimes called the "European Oscars." German film director Wim Wenders, president of the European Film Academy, commented: "European films are so much better than their reputation in theaters around the world." Some 360 films from 47 countries were considered for the EFA awards. "It's just incredible that more than 300 million people in Europe have picked a German film in the German language, this ugly German language," the film's producer, Stefan Arndt, said in jest.
虽然今年的柏林电影节依然被来势汹汹的好莱坞搞得有些不尴不尬，依然要靠好莱坞大牌们撑门面，但德国人还是对本土的几部作品感到颇为得意，并寄予了厚望。这部电影就是德国媒体的焦点，甚至被捧为金熊奖的最有力争夺者。导演沃尔夫冈·贝克的上一部作品《生活是你的所有》(Life Is All You Get)在1997年柏林电影节上得到了特别奖。主演丹尼尔·布鲁赫是目前德国炙手可热的男星，去年摘取了德国电影奖最佳男演员奖。而本片已在德国获得剧本大奖，亦为它增添了竞争砝码。
