Good Bye, Lenin
“Everything begins with Marx, continues on with Lenin, and ends with the refrain, Welcome, Mr. Brezhnev”, says the classics of critical theory. How come socialist revolutions begin with bright slogans and promises of the emancipation of every social group but soon end up with Stasi, KGB, Gulags, economic stagnation and deep coma? Why does it need the Wall to be built to prevent the people not from the intervention but from escaping if, by theory, everything is made in sake of people’s happiness? The destinies of the characters of Good Bye Lenin movie (like many of people from Central and Eastern Europe who was born after WWII) are split by this transition between regimes. But unlike the transition from capitalism to socialism, predicted by Marx, that people experienced the opposite. A protagonist Alex recalls "mother slept through the relentless triumph of capitalism", which symbolically reflects the long-term coma of the socialist state apparatus followed by aggressive capitalism intervention.
"Wind of change blew into the ruins of our Republic. We felt like being in the center of the world where finally something moved. And we moved with it". With the fall of the Berlin wall, the economic dump was replaced by an intensive flow of transatlantic corporations capital: gray half-empty shops turned into motley malls filled with import goods (Alex is desperately trying to find his mother's favourite Spreewood Gherkins), Alex's sister left university for the job at Burger King, Coca-Cola commercials appeared on the buildings instead of Soviet propaganda posters.
Alex notes that everything his mother believed in has vanished into thin air in a few months. The currency reform has caused a westward migration and a lot of apartments and houses in ex-GDR were left abandoned -- a somewhat romantic atmosphere of this abandonment and images of ghost city were elegantly depicted in the movie. Rapid economic transformation also caused the collapse of local production (as the socialist economy appeared to be weaker than expected with its out-of-date technologies) and public sector reduction caused a high rate of unemployment. Alex's neighborhood and his mother's colleagues and comrades seem to be depressed and frustrated (some even turn to alcoholism), as many of them lost their jobs, status, and motivation. Young people of ex-GDR seem to be anxious about their future but, at least, have some dull hope, while the aged population is worried to fail in the reorganization of their daily routine (most of them doing nothing but watching TV).
While Alex is desperately trying to save the illusion of GDR's stability and mightiness for his recovering mother it becomes evident that his attempt is rather comic and it will not take for too long to crack his game. Capitalism has quickly won the liking of a young generation, longing for comfort and entertainment. Alex's sister finds her GDR clothes awkward and ugly though she has worn them routinely somewhat month ago, she also refuses to use old sort of plastic diapers for her baby. She complains to her brother that his ploy is pure madness because it is impossible to decorate and restructure all the city. Soviet-style TV broadcasts, that Alex produces with his resilient colleague, declaring GDR's wealthiness and prosperity, make the situation even more absurd (for instance, the Soviet origin of Coca-Cola). Thus, this sweet utopia dream becomes less and less possible -- everything strives for update (it concerns all the aspects of life: economic, political, cultural) and the changes are made with the speed of light without any empathy for those who prefer to remain in their daydream.
We may also witness how a lack of democracy provokes people to live in a lie and to be separated for long years (e.g., relations of Alex's parents). We can clearly distinguish the word democracy in "German Democratic Republic" and the basics of socialism presuppose that all people should be politically equal and the power must not be held by few but by every subject engaged in production. However, the movie reveals the opposite: Alex's father, who is not a party member, experiences pressure and leaves for the West, since then Christiane is being terrorized by Stasi and goes to a madhouse with a nervous breakdown. A complete disintegration of a family and community, that ruined people lives.
One of the aspects of a democratic regime is the state that becomes a part of the global political landscape. On the contrary to democratic regimes, the communist regimes of XX century prove to be rather isolationistic and inflexible, often using violence to suppress the democratic institutions. One of the most dramatic scenes in the film is anti-violence protests: the mother, being a faithful communist and supporter of GDR government, sees how militia violently beat protesters, among whom she notices her son, her heart can not stand this and she falls in the coma, which she could not mentally get over to the rest of her life.
