Goodbye Lenin
Screening: 21 March 2005
Germany 2003
Directed by Wolfgang Becker
Leading players ~ Daniel Brühl, Katrin Sass, Maria Simon.
121 minutes.
Synopsis
Germany 1989 and the nation celebrates the fall of the Berlin Wall. However, the news the democratic world had waited for since Berlin was divided in the summer of 1961, could prove fatal for staunch Communist party member, Christiane (Katrin Sass).As the momentous regime change unfolds around her, she lies oblivious in a coma for eight months induced by a heart attack. When she awakes doctors warn her son, Alex, (Daniel Brühl) that the slightest shock could kill her, so they hatch a plan to keep her in the dark. As Berlin shakes off the Communist yoke and embraces the west, the old regime lives on in the confines of the family home.
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A German comedy may be regarded as a misnomer, but Wolgang Becker’s film proves the Teutonic people really do have a sense of humour. It is also an endearing film, with believable performances from Kass and Brühl.Goodbye Lenin is a refreshing, charming and often hilarious tale of a son’s love for his mother.
The President’s Choice to be introduced by Paula Thelwell
