Good Bye Lenin!

Play trailer

Good Bye Lenin!

R

2003

2h 1m

Comedy

Drama

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

91%

Tomatometer

108 Reviews

93%

Popcornmeter

50,000+ Ratings

In October 1989, right before the fall of the Berlin Wall, Alex Kerner (Daniel Brühl) is living with his mom, Christiane (Kathrin Sass), and sister, Ariane (Maria Simon). But when the mother, a loyal party member, sees Alex participating in an anti-communist rally, she falls into a coma and misses the revolution. After she wakes, doctors say any jarring event could make her have a heart attack, meaning the family must go to great lengths to pretend communism still reigns in Berlin.

Critics Consensus

Heartfelt and sly, Good Bye, Lenin! succeeds as a satire by foregrounding the personal before the political, yielding a charming comedy full of sociopolitical insight.

Read Critics Reviews

J. R. Jones

Chicago Reader

06/29/2022

German writer-director Wolfgang Becker creates an intriguing story of a family traumatized by politics, then lets it drift off into an elaborate sitcom-style hoax ...

Go to Full Review

Kirk Honeycutt

The Hollywood Reporter

07/21/2004

Non-Germans will certainly get the essence of the humor but may find the movie long and repetitive.

Go to Full Review

Eleanor Ringel Cater

Atlanta Journal-Constitution

05/13/2004

B-

Charming and eventually poignant.

Go to Full Review

Alistair Lawrence

Common Sense Media

12/17/2021

4/5

While the finale might be a bit neat and tidy for some, Good Bye Lenin! still manages to be a political comedy with a heart and a conscience.

Go to Full Review

Richard Propes

TheIndependentCritic.com

09/09/2020

3.5/4.0

A film of great history, great poetry, and great power.

Go to Full Review

Deborah Hornblow

Hartford Courant

01/02/2018

4/5

"Good bye, Lenin!'' is a wonder of a film with humor and heart and political savvy to spare. Don't miss it.

Go to Full Review

Read all reviews

Argyle T

@Argyle Aug 17

I was living in Germany when the wall came down..this film takes me back to that time...simply a brilliant heartfelt movie...a must see

See more

Faiz D

@RT95588871 May 13

This was my first German film, and what a wonderful film it was. A beautiful portrayal of family and politics.

See more

J Cabhan T

@RT23973596 12/01/2024

Like Peter Sellers' "Being There" and Jim Carrey's "Truman Show", this gem works as an interpretation of Plato's Allegory of the Cave. Instead of trying to escape from the cave, this story beautifully conveys how one young man tries to perpetuate the illusion of the cave for his mother after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

See more

Tiernán T

@RT67446959 10/29/2024

Heartfelt, funny and warm. Hard to describe but this is one of those films that’s just gives you *that* feeling. It’s completely honest presenting German reunification for what it actually was, a hard fought idea that was never fully delivered upon. It takes a tumultuous period in history and personalises it through a sitcomesqe storyline that feels weirdly authentic.

See more

Uynga U

@RT32500567 07/24/2024

I'm gonna put this in my "watch again" list

See more

Bahad j

@RT27093708 07/23/2024

I felt like the characters in this movie could feel the happiness and difficulties that they faced in real life.

See more

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

POST RATING

Wolfgang Becker

Director

Daniel Brühl

Alexander "Alex" Kerner

Maria Simon

Ariane Kerner

Chulpan Khamatova

Lara

Florian Lukas

Denis

Alexander Beyer

Rainer

"Dog Soldiers" Sequel Moving Forward?

Watch the First 6 Mins of "The Edukators"

View more photos

Synopsis

In October 1989, right before the fall of the Berlin Wall, Alex Kerner (Daniel Brühl) is living with his mom, Christiane (Kathrin Sass), and sister, Ariane (Maria Simon). But when the mother, a loyal party member, sees Alex participating in an anti-communist rally, she falls into a coma and misses the revolution. After she wakes, doctors say any jarring event could make her have a heart attack, meaning the family must go to great lengths to pretend communism still reigns in Berlin.

Director: Wolfgang Becker
Producer: Stefan Arndt
Screenwriter: Wolfgang Becker, Bernd Lichtenberg
Distributor: Sony Pictures Entertainment
Production Co: X-Filme Creative Pool, Westdeutscher Rundfunk
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: German
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 9, 2003, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 17, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $4.1M
Runtime: 2h 1m
Sound Mix: Dolby Stereo, Dolby Digital, Dolby A, Surround, Dolby SR
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)