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Good Bye Lenin!

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Good Bye Lenin!

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Summary

Award-winning comedy drama starring Daniel Brühl and Katrin Sass. East Berlin before the reunification of Germany: Christiane Kerner is a devout communist who falls into a coma when she sees her son Alex attacked during a protest. While comatose, however, the Berlin Wall falls and the East German regime collapses. So when Christiane awakes, Alex is forced to go increasingly bizarre lengths to maintain the illusion that the Cold War is still in existence, or else the shock to his mother could prove fatal.

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Review

A star rating of 3 out of 5.

Jason Caro

The fall of the Berlin Wall and subsequent reunification of Germany is less than obvious material for a comedy, but this critical and commercial smash from director Wolfgang Becker - it outgrossed Harry Potter in its homeland - illustrates the "before" and "after" from a quirky and amusing perspective. Katrin Sass plays a staunch socialist who lapses into a coma for eight months, during which time the seeds of change are planted in Berlin. When she finally wakes, doctors warn her devoted son (Daniel Brühl) that any shocks could kill her, so he sets about hiding all traces of reunification. There are some big laughs - as Brühl recruits family and friends to bolster the lie, including faking news broadcasts - and the accompanying social comment is nicely done, although subplots involving a love interest and an awkward family reunion are integrated with less skill.

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7.7/10

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Credits

Cast

rolenameAlex KernerDaniel BrühlChristiane Kerner, Alex's motherKatrin SassLaraChulpan KhamatovaAriane Kerner, Alex's sisterMaria SimonDenisFlorian LukasRainerAlexander BeyerRobert Kerner, Alex's fatherBurghart KlaussnerPrincipal Dr KlapprathMichael Gwisdek

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Crew

rolenameDirectorWolfgang Becker

Details

Theatrical distributor

UGC Films

Released on

2003-07-25

Languages

English | German | Russian

Guidance

Contains violence, swearing, drug abuse and nudity.

Available on

video and DVD

Formats

Colour

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