"Goodbye Lenin!"

It's another movie day. I just watched "Goodbye Lenin!" The film begins in East Germany before the destruction of the Berlin Wall. Katrin Saß plays a woman whose husband has emigrated to the West. She becomes devoted to the East German Socialist Party. She is a teacher and a leader of a patriotic youth group at the school. She is involved in citizens' concerns, and her activities include writing letters and starting petitions. Her son, played by Daniel Brühl, is involved in protests in favor of freedom of the press. There is large party meeting. He is protesting, and she is attending the meeting. She had previously been given a citizen award because of her participation in the Party. As she is on her way in a car to the meeting people are being arrested, and roads are blocked. She decides to take the subway to the meeting. As she is crossing the street she sees her son being arrested, and she collapses. She has had a heart attack, and she does not receive CPR in time. She spends eight months in a coma. During that time the Berlin Wall falls. When she awakens her son and daughter, played by Maria Simon, are told that her health is very shaky and any excitement could cause her to have a fatal heart attack. Alex, her son, decides to hide from her the political changes that took place while she was in a coma. He starts an elaborate scheme to make her believe that nothing has changed in Germany. Gradually that becomes more difficult. Eventually we learn why his father left the country and why his mother did not. The film includes humorous views of the West held by those in the East. This includes the view that Westerners are fat and lazy from sitting around eating fast food. This is a very touching family drama/comedy that deals with the political changes that took place and the love of family. Burghart Klaußner appears as Alex's father. Burghart Klaußner and Daniel Brühl are two of my favorite actors. The music by Yann Tiersen added very much to the tone of the movie.