In the whole film, the one who loves East Germany the most is the director, so he used his mother to symbolize East Germany, and at the same time let East Germany continue in a room of 79 square meters, which not only created an ideal state of East Germany, but also gave East Germany The deepest and solemn farewell.
This is a film about the reunification of the two Germanys from the perspective of East Germany. Many film critics have already said that the mother in the film symbolizes East Germany and the father symbolizes West Germany. There are many places in the film that allude to the symbolism of the two characters. The mother's love for the GDR did not exist from the beginning. In the second half of the film, she also confessed the truth to her child. She should have taken the child with her after her father went to West Germany. She gave up the fear of violent institutions and devoted herself to the construction of the socialist cause. Instead, she became an outlier in this socialist country, an idealist.
My mother's experience was very similar to that of the GDR government established under the leadership of the Soviet Union after World War II. Historically, Germany, which was divided and ruled, had no right to choose its own political system and path after the war. Therefore, Germany in the Anglo-American occupation area took the capitalist road, and Germany in the Soviet occupation area established a socialist democratic Germany. With its profound industrial foundation and cultural accumulation, East Germany once became the leader of the socialist family. Its GDP has long been in the forefront of the socialist camp, and its comprehensive strength far exceeds that of Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America. Little brother. Perhaps, looking back more than 40 years later, the director believes that Germany was forced to embark on the road of socialism under a kind of pressure, which is a form of helplessness.
The mother fainted after witnessing the scene where her son was beaten by the police. Combined with the precarious situation in East Germany at that time, it is difficult to say that the director's arrangement was completely irrelevant. Before fainting, her mother could still participate in political meetings and oral submissions, but after fainting, she could only be trapped in bed, incapacitated, and could not even be aware of changes in the outside world. At that time, in East Germany, after the big brother, the Soviet Union, dug his own grave, there were no eggs in the nest, and there was no chance or ability to reverse the situation. East German general secretary Honecker went into exile in Moscow even after his resignation and did not dare to return to China until he was forcibly extradited to face trial.
The most impressive scene in the film is when the mother sneaks downstairs and meets the bust of Lenin in the street. Since she went out, her mother, who had felt the changes around her, was standing on the street in a daze, staring blankly at the bust of Lenin. The bust of Lenin brushed her outstretched hand in front of her mother. His decades of national farewell. In the end, Lenin disappeared in the brilliant sunset light as if being hung by a helicopter. The dazed expression of my mother standing on the street made me cry. The most painful thing in life is the collapse of belief. The belief that I once believed and was proud of suddenly turned into a lie. All the hard work and labor have been in vain. What is even more sad is that I have nothing to do with all this, I can only watch it all happen, and I can only accept it.
The father in the film finally appears in the second half of the film. Before his appearance, the son's image of his father living in a capitalist world is full of fat, sitting by the pool full of food and doing nothing. But the real father is healthy, handsome, with a happy family and a group of happy friends. This is in stark contrast to the mother on the sickbed. It's just that the role of the father in the film is very small, and there are very few shots. When the mother's ashes go to the sky at the end, he just stands aside like a stranger, and the camera flashes by. Probably because the film mainly recreates that period of history from the perspective of East Germany.
A mother's love for East Germany is moving, as is her love for her son. At the end of the film, even though he already knew the truth, he still looked calmly at the "GDR Birthday" carefully made by the child for her. While watching the speech of the former astronaut who became the head of state, the mother's eyes were no longer on the TV, and she looked at her child tenderly. She has fully understood the current situation of the country and her son's good intentions. With a child like this, what can a mother ask for? Therefore, on the night of the reunification of the two Germanys, my mother could look at the fireworks blooming outside the window with a smile on her face. She had seen the best East Germany, a democratic Germany with the pure belief of socialism and the superior material conditions of capitalism at the same time. , she will leave with the memory of this Germany. As for what the truth looks like, it no longer matters to the mother.
Mother and father symbolize East and West Germany respectively. What about the other characters in the film? The son and the daughter naturally symbolize the young people of East Germany. The son ran to mix in the parade because of fun, so he met his girlfriend, and it was because of this that his mother fainted. In the fall of East Germany, and even the fall of the Soviet Union, young people are one of the most important forces. It can be said that the entire upheaval in Eastern Europe was planned by the West, led by the opposition of various socialist countries, and executed by young people. Still pragmatic, the pair quickly embraced their new life, with their son a satellite TV installer and their daughter a Burger King waiter. And this is the path that most young people will choose. When the enthusiasm for the revolution fades, they still have to return to the daily life of firewood, rice, oil and salt.
The decadent old professor, the complaining old neighbor, the doctor who left his post and the doctor who sticks to his post, the former astronaut who would rather drive a taxi than work under the leadership of West Germany, the lazy and low presence male from West Germany Friends, and girlfriends from the Soviet Union. Together with the mother, these characters vividly outline the living and emotional states of ordinary people under the tide of history. The swastika, the decadent underground bands, the drugs, the dazzling supermarkets, and the bright Coca-Cola advertisements are the people's complicated emotions about the reunification of the two Germanys. East Germany, which has lost its pure faith, has stepped into the quagmire of capitalist corrupt culture.
When the mother dies, the ideal GDR on this side also dies.
Goodbye, ideal. Goodbye, Lenin.
I am very curious about how Ukraine will look when the same subject is handed over to Russia.
View more about Good Bye Lenin! reviews
