Goodbye Lenin seemed very sympathetic of the East German
switch in government. Putting the main character in a predicament where his
mom, a loyal supporter of the GDR misses the eight months where the wall comes
down and the boarders between the two nations all but disappear. Alex then goes out of his way to protect his
mom from the truth. That the Soviet Government installed has failed. The story
really sympathizes with the East Germans that were party members and now are
relegated to unemployment. Though the movie tries to keep an upbeat attitude
towards the reunification it defiantly keeps a bittersweet nostalgia for East
Germany. Alex even states that for his mother he gave “East Germany the exit it
deserved.”
On that note I couldn’t believe he kept the charade up. His
intentions may have been noble but I feel like keeping it a secret as long as he did was putting unnecessary
stress on his mother.
Fun little tidbit, The Matrix came out in 1999, The movie
takes place in 1989. Denis is wearing a Matrix T-shirt in the scene where they
are drinking and looking at the 2001 a space odyssey shot that he had filmed.
The Edukators was more than nostalgic for the East German
way of life and seemed to be glorifying it. The main characters for the movie
seemed to whine about how the rich had too much and the children weren’t revolutionary
enough. Leaving notes stating that “The days of plenty are over.” Even
kidnapping a man who it seems pretty clearly is supposed to be the embodiment
of Capitalism. The kids end up getting away with kidnapping, breaking and
entering, cracking security systems.
I did have an issue with the ending. The guy gives her a
note saying paid in full, then says don’t worry about the police then sicks the
police on the kids? How did they know the police were coming? Also…. Aren’t they
wanted now? So if they do return they will just be arrested.
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