Goodbye Lenin, Hello new horizons

Goodbye Lenin is a German movie who was recommended to me by several of my friends. All were unanimous: it is a chef d'oeuvre, grandiose movie I should be ashamed of not having seen yet. Therefore I watched it. And if I personally did not find it as mind blowing as it was depicted to me, I do agree it is a classic, an indispensable landmark in the cinematographic and social studies' history.

In Goodbye Lenin (2003), director Wolfgang Becker follow Alex Kerner (Daniel Brühl) in his attempts to recreate Soviet German Democratic Republic. Alex young idealist adult from Eastern Berlin assists to the transformation of Eastern Germany and the transition from his childhood communist Berlin to a modern, consumerist and capitalist Berlin. Originally pro-transition, Alex does not accept this new Berlin, far different from his illusions. The awakening from a coma of his socialist party-partisan mother who missed the fall of the Berlin Wall gives him the perfect prefect to return time. For his mother, Alex will censor his family, neighbors, and even himself; Thus bringing down the silent censorship on the reunification of the two Germany. Thanks to Alex, Wolfgang Becker addresses here two aspects often ignored of censorship : socio-cultural censorship and media's censorship.

Often ignored, socio-cultural censorship is just as, if not more, powerful than the State's. Often passed under silence, it is more and more studied as the public sphere “open up”. Paradoxically, as more and more discussions arise on women rights, racism and other post-modern subjects, the social pressure against anyone who's opinion differs from the “politically correct” increases (Mueller 3). As capitalism became the main socio-politico-economical system around the world, its competitors are academically and politically criticized. However for a certain regime to resist for years, its citizens must be able to survive and thrive to a certain point. In this sense, the reunification of Germany is often depicted as the end of a “dark” period. Yet, only qualifying it as so is denying the memories and childhoods of thousands of East Germans. Through Alex's resistance, the movie reminds its spectators that humans lived and loved during 50 years under socialism.

Confirming that this refreshing approach was a valuable addition to the study of the end of the Cold War, Becker's movie was overwhelmingly acclaimed world wide. Subtle critic of both communism and capitalism, Goodbye Lenin is the voice of the citizens who have to live through any specific regime. It opens a new dimension of discussions in the German public sphere, openly criticizing the end of socialism. Moreover, by opening such a discussion, this movie also questions how the transition is nowadays presented and thus the limits of reality.

As the idealist image Alex had of capitalism only leaves him frustrated, confronted to the reality; Alex develops nostalgia towards the old regime, symbol of his past and happy childhood.

Helped by his sister, girlfriend and neighbors, Alex thus recreate this nostalgic past. To do so, he goes as far as filming fake news to convince his mother, taking over the role of the media. Which brings us to another dilemma Becker touches upon : media are the support and defenders of the “Truth”. Yet, as they present facts a certain way, they create a discourse and distort the truth they are delivering to their trusting watchers. To support his claims, Alex uses images from the real situation, such as Eastern Berliners escaping to West-Berlin but present them as depicting the exact contrary. Yet, as time goes on, Alex himself admits that it becomes increasingly difficult to return to reality. His fiction takes a life of his own, where the discourse Alex created becomes the norm, even for himself. And despite the unbelievability news reports Alex's mother watches, she can do nothing but passively accepts this “truth”. Such scenes brings us back to the actual world. Goodbye Lenin reminds us that media, on whom we count to gather the informations necessary to our existence, are not innocent nor a symbol of objectivity. Depending which facts are presented to us, by whom but also how and through which support, only a certain side of our fluid reality comes to light. Of course, it is impossible to depict all aspects and points of view on a situation. However, the danger is when a media's representation of reality becomes the only truth, as Alex's representation of East-Berlin becomes his mother's truth. Media then become censors, silencing others' opinions:

Despite being the representation of the liberty of speech against any type of censorships, media are both subjects of socio-cultural censorship and censors of informations and reality.

To summarize, Wolfgang Becker shows us that just as Capitalism is no heaven, Socialism is no hell. It was a human system. It was indeed strict and full of hardships but nonetheless, as human lives went on, people adapted to it and integrated the system into their culture and their roots. Forgetting about this fact and thinking of Socialist Germany only from a political perspective is to deny the past of all its inhabitants. Becker also teaches us we ought not to forget that the reality we perceive is based on words and discourses. And many if not most of these discourses are carried and reproduced through media's proactive choices.

To conclude, Goodbye Lenin is a story. A story of frustration, of growing up. A story where reality and fiction get mix to the point where the hero is not sure which is which. And where we starts questioning as well, if the reality we are taught is the one we want to follow. A story worth watching.

Works referenced :

Müller, Beate. “Censorship and Cultural Regulation: Mapping the Territory”.
Good Bye Lenin! Dir. Wolfgang Becker. Perf. Daniel Brühl, Katrin Saß, Maria Simon, and Chulpan Khamatova. X Verleih AG, 2003.