This was a really fun, emotional movie. It is also subtitled - be warned. It is also out on DVD. It is also worth buying it and watching it, subtitles and all.
The story is set in East Germany, just prior to the fall of the Berlin Wall. A woman who has "married herself" to the government (following her husband's flight to the West) has a heart-attack after seeing her son marching in a protest which is broken up (violently) by the government. Unfortunatly, help is late getting to her, and she's in a coma. Flash forward eight-months, and the Berlin Wall is down. She recovers from the heart attack, but her son and daughter are warned than any "unexpected shock" might cause another heart attack and kill her.
Remember: this is a woman entirely devoted to the socialist state. The socialist state which is quite rapidly crumbling. So, her son sets out on a mission: to convince her that all is right with the world, and East Germany still exists as she remembers it. To do this, he has to repackage western food items into discarded eastern packaging, explain why there's a huge Coca-Cola sign on a neighboring building, and hope she doesn't ask why the neighbors are from West Germany.
This is a great dramatic film, focusing on characters whose whole world has literally collapsed around them, and their unwillingness to completely let it go.
I heartily recommend it.
Posted by Daryus Aden (Member # 12) on :