Review of Good Bye, Lenin! (2003) by Ross L — 07 May 2008
A surprisingly heartfelt execution of a premise that could have been too clever by half, Becker's charming parable about social upheaval and historical amnesia succeeds as it does because it trusts its characters enough to let them breathe and feel and live.
Where an American indie of the same type may well have lingered frivolously on the witty ingenuity of Alex's scheme, "Goodbye Lenin!" is tempered with the experience of a nation where real social change has overturned the basic reality.
In a way, Alex's meticulous recreation of the departed socialist system is wish fulfillment, an act both personal and entrepreneurial, an attempt to construct a framework that Western democracy promised to Eastern Europe but has had chronic issues in delivering.
Becker's film is never blatant in its judgements, and always ambiguous about the systems we use to make civilization function. A smart little movie that isn't even really that little, in the end.
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This review of Good Bye, Lenin! (2003) was written by Ross L on 07 May 2008.
Good Bye, Lenin! has generally received very positive reviews.
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