Film Analysis Good-bye, Lenin Directed by Wolfgang...

Taking place in East Germany, 1989, the movie is about a family consisting of a mother, son, and daughter. The mother, Christiane, is a strong socialist and a party member of the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Christiane was dramatically shaken, but it only increased her passion for the GDR. One day, she witnesses her son, Alex, protesting in an anti-Berlin Wall demonstration and being apprehended by the police. Christiane suffers a heart attack from the sight and goes into a coma for 8 months. During that time period, much has changed, including the fall of the Berlin wall, the GDR being dissolved, and the reunification of West and East Germany. With the fall of the Berlin wall, socialism in on the decline and capitalism begins to†¦show more content†¦Compared to our own class textbook, I feel as if the movie covered the change of East Germany well with emotional family love and a touch of comedy. The majority of my prior knowledge was confirmed by the movie. I knew that with the fall of the Berlin Wall, capitalism soon spread itself over East Germany, which was clearly shown. Also, although the majority of the German people rejoiced after the Berlin Wall was opened, many socialists were bitter and felt betrayed by the GDR, such as the socialist colleagues of Christiane. However, the movie could have portrayed the politics and German government more so the audience could have a better understand of what political life was like during the time. Also, the film could have shown how people, like Alex’s father, crossed the Berlin Wall and how difficult it was to make it across. Lastly, there were many things to learn and take from the film, Good-bye, Lenin. I learned how the sudden switch to capitalism from socialism affected the citizens of East Germany, especially how the old socialists were negatively affected. Besides that, I feel as if I already knew about most of what the film went over through the AP Euro history course. The only thing tha t really surprised me was when the mother admitted that Alex and his sister’s father did not actually cross to West Berlin over a woman. Rather, the father was harassed by the GDR because he was not a