Good Bye Lenin!

Good bye Lenin is a movie that takes place in the time period of the breaking down of the Berlin wall. The film does a great job at showing the viewers the different ways of life were on each side of the wall. We watch as the main character Alex and his family deal with the uniting of East and West Germany. One big obstacle for Alex is to convince his mother who was in a coma during the fall of the wall, that it is still up. Her doctor fears that too much excitement could result in a fatal heart attack. Alex’s mother is devoted to East Germany and is an activist for social progress. This is when the movie gets real creative to ensure keeping the secret from Alex’s mother.

As the wall comes down we see the distinct difference in the two sides. Alex ventures off for his first trip to the West and we watch as he walks into a porno shop. A few East Germans, men and women, are gathered around a TV which is showing a naked female rubbing whip cream all over her body. Neither disgusted nor excited the East Germans watch with blank stares on their faces. They are watching something they never even imagined. Changing of person choice is also evident as Alex’s sister Ariane quits studying economic theory and begins to flip burgers at Burger King. Capitalism really floods into East Germany after the fall of the wall. Coca Cola and Burger King are two companies who are shown as examples of capitalism invaded the East. Many of the working class hero’s lost their lost their jobs. Alex’s TV repair company shuts down and he then begins his job as a door to door satellite TV salesman and installer.

As his mother wakes we get to witness Alex transform everything back to his socialist society so his mother will not go into shock. Alex begins to move all the old furniture into the house. Alex goes to lengths to keep it from his mother. East German food is now unavailable and has been taken over by westernized products. This is an obstacle for Alex. He can’t find the products that mother wants so he fills old jars with similar products. Mocca Fix Gold and Spreewald Pickles are a couple of mother’s favorites. Another product that is East German Approved was the Trabant. In the scene when they are trying to get mother to sign over her money the name Trabant comes up. Unsure what it was, I did some research and found out that it was the most common vehicle in East Germany. In Latin Trabant means “fellow traveler”. The name was inspired by the Russian satellite sputnik.

I found Good bye Lenin to be a very informative tool as to grasp how it was for citizens of East Germany when the wall fell. There were many things that I learned from the movie. I had no idea that the German soccer team won the world championship following the fall of the wall. I can’t image how much that helped unite the country. Many times when there is adversity in a country or a institution, it seems that something like sports like can really unite people and bring them together.