Tag Archives: socialism

Historical context, Plot, Reviews

The History of Berlin: The End of the Old and the Beginning of the New

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“Bye-bye communism” should have been the name of the movie. The hilarious film shows the beginning of the end communism in Europe and the world. Its almost easy to forget how divided Berlin was before the fall of the wall or for that matter the globe. Its explains the real historic event in a humorous way but without compromising the integrity that democracy represented for many in those times. In less than 30yrs. Germany has shaken its communist past. In that span of time people of younger generations probably never new that Germany was divided. This is a testament to the resilience admiration to freedom the German people display.

The film centers around Alex who in the beginning of the film is like every other young person in the east, protesting for change. Ironically Alex meets Lara who save him from choking during the protest. Lara eventually becomes Alex girlfriend in the film. He just wants to live in a society where he can choose what to do. Alex does become more sympathetic to socialism when he deceives his sick mother. Granted the first thing he does when the wall comes down is go see porn in the west, but that’s his choice. Just one of the many side humor notes in the movies in reference to freedom.
It’s interesting to see how far the German people have come since the fall of socialism. Youth like Alex, who was 22yrs. at the time according to the movie. This is the same generation who would pushed German forward. This is the same generation that battled to reunify German and shake the ghosts of its communist past. In the day of GDR half of Berlin was in shambles due to communism, but today Berlin is once again being known as an international city. In the film this is represented by actual footage of western and eastern Germans tearing down the wall making the city whole once more.
In the movie we see Alex trying to hide the present but in continuously encroaches on the lie that he’s created. I great point made there, no matter how hard he tried nobody can hold back progress. Once Berlin came together Ariane quits school and starts working at Burger King, super hilarious. This moment in the movie also has great importance because in the east everybody had to have a degree, but in the west this wasn’t the case not all people desire to be in highly educated job or life. To me that’s perfectly fine and now thanks to democracy its ok in Germany as well.
This film is truly impressive the way it displays all walks of life. While maintaining its integrity in unbiased approach. Surely their people who were not happy about the east, but it’s the past now. Nobody can argue that Germany is a better nation for what happen in history. This film is more then just another funny movie. All though I agree the best way to portray such a sensitive subject is through humor. It’s great to note the Germans themselves received the movie with open arms. Another mark showing that a people and a nation are looking forward.
This movie is an example to the whole world what life was like not too long ago. Just think of this way, if you were in east Germany you think this film would be allowed. Nobody wants to be in a society where xvideos is censored. The movie lets everybody know that change can be shocking and scary, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s a bad thing.

Historical context

Berlin’s Historical Developments: The Tearing Apart and Rebuilding of a Single City

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This film, by way of retracing the steps of the Kerner Family, is able to take pot shots at the ideologies of both capitalism and communism. It converts this one family crisis into a symbol of Germany’s attempts to rebuild themselves as a nation and heal the wounds of their past.

The historical context of this film dominates the plot and provides viewers with very little knowledge about the political era during which it was set, or how life was before the changes, or even how life changed so dramatically for those people in the East after. Of course, viewers with any personal history or memory of the time period will be whisked away to a nostalgia of the historical transformation of Germany both good and bad.

Few capitals around the world have endured the tumultuous history that Berlin had to endure. As the Second World War came to a close, the allied countries including the Soviet Union, United States of America, Great Britain, and France, all signed what became known as the Potsdam Treaty. This treaty defined the borders not just for Germany but for Berlin. In the following decades, Berlin was divided between the Soviet influences of the East and the U.S., French, and British influence of the west. Soon enough the already separated city was split into two in 1961 with the creation of the Berlin Wall. The wall officially separated the German Democratic Republic (GDR) in the East from the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) in the west.

In the East, where the Kerner Family lived, the GDR maintained strict control over the lives of the citizens and city by way of communism. Families were forced to live in a restricted existence cut off from loves ones on the West with little to no contact for more than two decades.

This film brings into the question the feelings a family might have faced seeing the wall get bigger and more impassable, feelings of safety for some and yet feelings of being trapped for others.  Becker works hard to create a believable East Berlin, one reflective upon what it was like for families at the end of the 1980’s with people clinging to the familiar, to what they know, and younger people seeking out change from the oppression they saw in the security seen by their elders.

In fact, the lead actor, the director, and the scriptwriter have personal links to East Berlin, using their personal experiences and knowledge to enhance the authenticity of the film. They coursed cars, artefacts, and clothes from that time period in order to bring to life the authenticity of the time period. Becker stated that the cost for recreating a 1989 East Berlin scene was underestimated and within two weeks the entire allocated budget had been spent.

Reflections on the Utopian City

The director, Wolfgang Becker, and Alex worked hard to create a utopian German Democratic Republic, a key aspect to the film which many viewers have complained was far from the reality of the time. The film does not mention negative sides to the political party, leaving out how they spied on even their supporters, how poorly refugees trying to leave the party were treated, or of Bautzen the notorious torture prison reserved for political rebels. By not including the darker side of the East Germany government Becker has shown only a positive side influencing the overall tone of the film from one focused on the dark side of a vicious historical government to one focused on the day to day struggles of this family.