Critic Rating
(read reviews)User Rating
Director
Wolfgang Becker
Cast
Daniel Brühl,
Katrin Sass,
Chulpan Khamatova,
Maria Simon,
Florian Lukas,
Alexander Beyer
Genre
Comedy,
Drama
In 1989, Alex is living with his mother and sister in Berlin. One day, his mother, a loyal member of the Socialist Unity Party, has a heart attack and falls into a coma, missing the fall of the Wall. Warned that any shock could cause his mother to relapse, Alex and his sister must pretend that the Wall is still standing.
This is a wonderful movie. The acting is excellent and the story rings true even to someone who has never lived through the end of soviet rule in East-Germany. A little melodramatic at times, but it always rings true and is a heartbreaking portrayal of familial love.
Los Angeles Times by Kenneth Turan
Funny but not a comedy, serious but never overbearing, emotional in an engaging and bittersweet way, Good Bye, Lenin! is a wonderful film unto itself about a world unto itself.
Time by Richard Corliss
A romantic comedy so smart and sweetly mature, it's liberating.
New York Daily News by Jami Bernard
Wolfgang Becker's premise is absurdist and makes great sense as political satire.
L.A. Weekly by Ella Taylor
Director Becker and his sharp screenwriter, Bernd Lichtenberg, come less to bury communism than to hurl darts at the Western commodity culture that floods East Berlin.
The A.V. Club by Nathan Rabin
Surprisingly successful blend of goofy political farce and sober family drama.
Variety by Eddie Cockrell
This triumph of historical verisimilitude in the service of solid storytelling requires no detailed knowledge of the period to be appreciated as the moving story of a son's unconditional love for his mother.
Film Threat
Relies heavily on strong performances from Brühl and Sass to make the illusion believable.
Village Voice by J. Hoberman
Overlong and a bit tiresome but it's actually about something.
The New York Times by A.O. Scott
Much too long. It starts to feel like a flabby, dramatic version of the first "Austin Powers" movie, another exercise in living anachronism as a storytelling device. By the time the picture's final note about German reunification is struck, "Lenin!" has raised a wall of indifference for the audience.
The Hollywood Reporter by Kirk Honeycutt
Will richly award locals with sly in-jokes and a wonderful comic performance by Bruhl. Non-Germans will certainly get the essence of the humor but may find the movie long and repetitive.
Loading recommendations...
Loading recommendations...