Good Bye, Lenin!

9/17/21

It didn't take longer than two weeks and I'm already recommending subtitled foreign films, hear me out though, I'm not just being a pretentious douche, there's a lot in this film to enjoy regardless of the language you speak. "Good Bye, Lenin!" is a German film released in 2003 and directed by Wolfgang Becker. Daniel Bruhl (Baron Zemo for those still following the MCU) plays a teenage boy who has to care for his mother after she has fallen ill, it also happens to be 1989 in the film and the Berlin Wall has just been brought down. The reason I am recommending this movie is that I feel it is very relatable to watch as an American in our current state. The mother in the story can't accept that the system she put her faith in could have been flawed, leading to the children having to make accommodations for the mother to simply survive. Our country experienced a similar shift recently, I see lots of people making accommodations for family members who have lost their way to anger or fear. "Good Bye, Lenin!" is about balancing progress and tradition. On top of the poignancy, this movie is very funny. I found myself laughing way more than expected, usually having to read the dialogue creates a sort of analytic distance for me that keeps me from fully engaging with subtitled films, that was not the case for this movie, in large part due to some stellar acting by Daniel Bruhl and Katrin Sass (to pick some highlights, the whole cast does a good job).

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