GOOD BYE, LENIN

Country: Germany
Director: Wolfgang Becker
Lead Actors: Daniel Brühl, Katrin Sass, Maria Simon, Chulpan Khamatova, Florian Lukas
Running time: 95 min.
English subtitles
Rating: 14A (Nudity, coarse language, violence)

In Berlin, the crazed city where West confronts East,
a son will do anything to protect his mother
.

October 1989 was a bad time to fall into a coma if you lived in East Germany - and this is precisely what happens to Alex's mother, an activist for social progress and the improvement of everyday life in socialist East Germany.

Alex has a big problem on his hands when she suddenly awakens eight months later. Her heart is so weak that any shock might kill her. And what could be more shocking than the fall of the Berlin Wall and the triumph of capitalism in her beloved country? To save his mother, Alex transforms the family apartment into an island of the past, a kind of socialist museum where his mother is lovingly duped into believing that nothing has changed.

What begins as a little white lie gets more and more out of hand as Alex's mother, who feels better every day, wants to watch TV and even leaves her bed one day…

In a wonderful, touching and comic manner, Good Bye, Lenin! tells the story of how a loving son tries to move mountains and create miracles to restore his mother to health - and keep her in the belief that Lenin really did win after all!

Winner of 6 European Film Awards, including Audience Award, Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Screenplay

Winner of 8 German Film Awards including Audience Award, Best Actor, Best Director, and Best Director

Winner of Blue Angel Award at Berlin Film Festival

Winner of Cesar Award (France) for Best European Union Film

"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." - Kenneth Turan /Los Angeles Times