East Germany in Wolfgang Becker Film «Goodbye Lenin!»

East Germany, its demise relayed through the mass media of recent history, has in popular consciousness been posited as negative, a corrupt bulwark of the last dying days of Communism in Eastern Europe, barren and silent. The other Germany to its West, its citizens free, was striding confidently ahead into the millennium. Recent cinema has sought to examine re-unification, the Wolfgang Becker film Goodbye Lenin! (2003) a recent example of such an investigation into the past through cinema. In this essay I will look at the film and the narrative techniques it uses, probing whether it portrays the East German nation as positive or

Set at the end of the Cold War in East Germany, the movie Goodbye Lenin is the story of a young man, Alex, trying to protect his mother, Christiane, who just spent the last eight months in a coma. Christiane is a personification of the values and ideology of socialism. She carries them out in her interactions with society, and is very hopeful towards the success of the regime. During her absence, the fall of the Berlin Wall and of the German Democratic Republic leads to a radical and turbulent change in society: the fall of socialism and the triumph of capitalism. Because of the shocking effect of such information and the danger of another heart attack, Alex creates for Christiane an ideological form of socialism. Fundamental themes in the movie are the difference between ideal and reality of socialism, as well as the positive and negative aspects of the transition to free market capitalism. Such themes are carried out through a juxtaposition of an ideal society and its reality in the form of a constructed reality of socialism. This idealized version of socialism served as an oasis from the chaotic transition from a problematic socialist regime to free market capitalism.

Limitations exist amongst her interpretation of East Germany narrowing the audience that Funder attempts to permeate with obscure knowledge stored in the minds of endless victims. The subjective thoughts presented put a taint on the knowledge received, one can only consider her truth with a level of exactness if they too were raised in similar conditions as Funder. Therefore it provides the ability to compare the lifestyle you consider worthy of human activity with the occurrences in East Germany, whilst allowing perspective to be manipulated by experience in the environment Funder observes. The inclusion of judgements and conclusions provides us to interpret the situation further, due to her acknowledgement that we should not necessarily believe her – “You know they want to stop thinking about the past. They want to pretend it all didn’t happen”. Funder’s lack of experience prior to her journey makes her understanding of the past narrow. She is intent on the idea that revealing and using your past to create a future is necessary. The GDR controls the associated people to this day, without an appropriate explanation of the happenings it has left them with the inability to piece together the numerous aspects embedded in their thoughts. The missing parts dominate these

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.

Today the city of Berlin is a thriving city with excellent nightlife unlike it was in the midst of the cold war. Although the reunification of the two sides was painstaking and expensive, Berlin and all of Germany is growing to be a magnificent city today. In spite of all this you can still see the differences between the two sides of Germany today. Whether it's the economy, population, or school leavers, the contrast is clear and present today. Regardless Germany is working to be a stronger, more peaceful, and unified country. ("Fall of the

The political, economical, and social order of the Germanic states in the nineteenth century was in a state of chaos and disarray. Politically, the states had the desire of becoming unified and had the possibility to do so if it had not been for fear and neglect to follow through. Economically, the states were in a time of hardships with poor growth development in the fields and were also going through the time of the Industrial Revolution with changes to their everyday lives. Socially, the Germanic states were divided into a feudal system that was determined by birth status and wealth. The middle class, made up of scholars and students, and aristocracy had shared the same fear of the commoners’ revolt due

Historians constantly discuss the establishment of communism in Eastern Europe following World War II, a major topic being the Soviet Union’s occupation of The German Democratic Republic (GDR). The governing of the GDR by the Socialist Unity Party (SED) is frequently analysed, particularly operations against any perceived resistance to the stability of a socialist state. Erica Riemann was one perceived enemy, serving over eight years as a political prisoner after drawing a bow on a picture of Josef Stalin when she was fourteen, and she provides oral testimony of her experiences nearly fifty years later (Molloy 2009). This essay argues that the main value of Riemann’s testimony is an insight into the lengths that the SED went to in order to

A critic of the reunification process Dumche spoke of colonisation of the GDR by a Western German power “as a range to missed opportunities that might have produced a more positive outcome” in reference of areas in raising tax money and dealing with new economic strategies for the East. These missed opportunities meant that the people’s dreams were not answered, but a cause of loss of faith in the German leadership.

Movies created in Soviet Russia were prominently used as a tool for propaganda, “The Fall of Berlin,” used contrast to idealize Soviet Russia by downplaying Germany and Hitler. “The Fall of Berlin” was released in 1950, right after World War II ended. The film is Soviet propaganda that was thought to insure faith within the Russian population, as Stalin wanted Soviet Russia to believe in him. The movie characterized Stalin with such gratitude and admiration, even I believed he was a good leader.

Within German cinema, one can identify a particular type of films taking place in, and thematizing issues of, the former East German state. Given the undemocratic nature of the GDR, these films are particularly suited to discuss the way that people react to a status quo: whether by accepting it and conforming to it, or by rejecting and subverting it in various ways. These different options appear in the two films analysed in this essay. Coming Out (1989) by Heiner Carow was filmed in the GDR, and charts a gay man 's process of acceptance of himself. The Lives of Others (2006) by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck looks back at the GDR 's past, and more specifically at the actions of the Stasi. Its plot, set in 1984, follows a Stasi agent 's “conversion” to political subversion and to being a “good man”. First, this essay will examine the representation of acceptance of the status quo in these films, before turning to the portrayal of subversion. Lastly, it will highlight some of the negative aspects of the subversion depicted – such aspects being introduced either in a conscious and critical way, or not.

The literal dislocation between East and West Germany was a major factor in the suffering of German cinema

While these thoughts and considerations continued to swirl around in the minds of those on the West side, the people of East Germany, including East Berlin, along with the citizens of the other nations controlled by the communist Soviet Union, grew increasingly dissatisfied with communist rule. The economic hardships they

As it began, our century drew to a close, with Germany once again the economic powerhouse and political hub of Europe. What is remarkable is how quickly this happened, how unbidden and unanticipated: the toppling of the Berlin Wall in November 1989; the reunification a year later; the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War in late December 1991; a resurgent impetus to West European integration in 1992; and NATO enlargement, which was consecrated in April 1999. Unquestionably, this chain of events has profoundly affected Germany’s situation over the past decades. For the first time since the establishment of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) in 1949 and the painstaking process of

Therefore, this film is not only a testimony about the German past but also the German present. It displays the irrational annihilation of six young Germans at the end of WWII, summoning up a very agonizing recollection of Nazi Germany’s futile effort to turn back the Allied invasion by hurling teenage boys into the

Along with every other nation around the globe, Germany has its own unique past. From the days previous to Bismarck to present time, the Germans have undergone significant trials and tribulations. Unfortunately for Germany the world will forever equate German history with Hitler and the Third Reich. As educated people, we need to be able to get past this stigma and appreciate the Germans for who they truly are. After the ending of the Second World War, Germany was divided in two: a free western Germany, and the communist East Germany. West Germany flourished while East Germany struggled to breathe under the heavy shadow of the Soviet Union. In 1990, after the Berlin Wall fell, Germany finally became one again with the union of East