Goodbye Lenin!

Aroview: This comedy of concealment set around the fall of the Berlin Wall was a justifiable success around the world, with a bittersweet mood of political satire enveloping its fable-like storyline.

Bruhl's mother goes into a coma just prior to to the re-unification of Berlin, and to prevent her from having another fatal shock, when she regains consciousness, the family pretend Germany is still divided. As they ingeniously juggle 'reality' into the shape they require - with absurd explanations and mock newscasts - the film tips into semi-predictable farce, varied with touches of romance and pathos.

Full of pointed, semi-nostalgic references to Cold War communist and capitalist culture, this is finally memorable for its uniquely wry and sombre view of recent history.

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