Good Bye Lenin!
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Good Bye Lenin!
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A Lot or a Little?
The parents' guide to what's in this movie.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Good Bye Lenin! is a wonderful German political comedy (with English subtitles) with sexual references and nudity. Set in 1990, Alex (Daniel Bruhl) is advised by his mother's doctors to ease her recovery from a coma by avoiding shocks, so constructs an elaborate scheme to keep the reunification of Germany from her. The movie is light in its tone, but still manages to include plenty of archive news footage and social commentary about how people lived in what was East Germany before and after their country's reunification. Alex is an everyman who rises to his task by showing inventiveness and compassion to the people he is closest to. Violence is brief and only features in one scene, at an anti-government process. Even then, it is not graphic and serves as an important plot point. A brief clip of an adult movie is shown depicting a topless woman. There is also a brief moment of full-frontal male nudity. Swearing only features in a couple of scenes and includes one use of both "f--ked" and "a--hole." Because of the story, consumerism is not glorified, rather than presented as something that the characters grapple with: it creates more choice, but also more problems, for Alex in particular. Adult characters smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol -- one character appears drunk, which is played for laughs. Marijuana is smoked in one scene but not to excess.
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What's the Story?
GOOD BYE LENIN! finds a young man called Alex (Daniel Bruhl) trying to hide the reunification of Germany from his mother, Christiane (Katrin Sass), in a bid to aid her recovery from a lengthy coma.
Is It Any Good?
A family and social comedy with a hint of satire, this German comedy won a host of awards upon its 2003 release and began actor Bruhl's ascent to international movie stardom. In Good Bye Lenin!, Bruhl's Alex straddles the divide between what both his family and country was and what it has become. As the story develops, familiar arguments about how best to protect loved ones bubble to the surface, in-between some tidily executed set pieces. The movie is at its most memorable when Alex attempts to hide the fall of communism and reunification of Germany to his forthright, socialist mother as she recovers from serious injury.
Within Alex's far-fetched efforts are an eerie foreshadowing of the fake news agenda. In addition, real-life news footage is used that doesn't shy away from talking about social inequality and what happens when the world around us changes at a rapid pace in unexpected ways. While the finale might be a bit neat and tidy for some, Good Bye Lenin! still manages to be a political comedy with a heart and a conscience. It also serves as a timely reminder that making compromises that go against our own beliefs in order to help others can be a sacrifice worth making.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how Good Bye Lenin! used humor to talk about serious issues such as the reunification of Germany and ill health. Was it successful in doing so? What other movies have you seen that have been about serious subjects but have also been funny?
How was sex portrayed in the movie? Was it affectionate? Respectful? Were the nude scenes handled sensitively?
Discuss the language used in the movie. Did it seem necessary or excessive? What did it contribute to the movie?
What role did fake news play in the movie? Could you understand why Alex did what he did? What do you understand fake news to be? How to spot fake news (and teach kids to be media-savvy).
What did you know about this period of history? Has it encouraged you to learn more?
Movie Details
- In theaters: May 14, 2004
- On DVD or streaming: August 10, 2004
- Cast: Daniel Bruhl, Katrin Sass, Chulpan Khamatova
- Director: Wolfgang Becker
- Studio: Sony Pictures Classics
- Genre: Comedy
- Topics: History
- Character Strengths: Compassion
- Run time: 121 minutes
- MPAA rating: R
- MPAA explanation: brief language and sexuality
- Last updated: December 27, 2022
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