This German movie is a touching tale about a mother who has a heart attack just before the Berlin Wall comes down. When she wakes up from her coma months later, the wall has come down, and Germany is about to unite East and West Germany into one country. After being warned that any shocks could make his mother suffer a second more fateful heart attack, her son resolves to keep the illusion of East Germany's continued existence, until she gets better.
The DVD box for this movie claims that the resulting efforts of the son to keep up the pretence lead to hilarious consequences. The movie isn't as funny as that, but it does have a lot of humour in it. In fact it's a rather touching tale of the relationship between mother and son.
The performances of Daniel Bruhl, as Alex the son and Kathrin Sass as the mother are very impressive. And the script by Wolfgang Becker and Bernd Lichtenberg is funny, and touching with some imaginative touches, as the increasingly desperate Alex comes up with some bizarre and inventive ways of keeping the illusion going.
Wolfgang Becker directs with some nice touches, yet never lets the story get ridiculous. By focusing on the relationship between son and mother, he keeps the story tight and avoids it getting too sentimental.
As mentioned, the movie is touching yet the humour that runs through it keeps a smile on your face, and the ending is moving. On the whole though, while I enjoyed it immensely I don't think it's the masterpiece some critics have suggested. It's slightly too long, and the story does run out of steam towards the end, but overall it's definitely worth watching.
The DVD box for this movie claims that the resulting efforts of the son to keep up the pretence lead to hilarious consequences. The movie isn't as funny as that, but it does have a lot of humour in it. In fact it's a rather touching tale of the relationship between mother and son.
The performances of Daniel Bruhl, as Alex the son and Kathrin Sass as the mother are very impressive. And the script by Wolfgang Becker and Bernd Lichtenberg is funny, and touching with some imaginative touches, as the increasingly desperate Alex comes up with some bizarre and inventive ways of keeping the illusion going.
Wolfgang Becker directs with some nice touches, yet never lets the story get ridiculous. By focusing on the relationship between son and mother, he keeps the story tight and avoids it getting too sentimental.
As mentioned, the movie is touching yet the humour that runs through it keeps a smile on your face, and the ending is moving. On the whole though, while I enjoyed it immensely I don't think it's the masterpiece some critics have suggested. It's slightly too long, and the story does run out of steam towards the end, but overall it's definitely worth watching.