Narrative context
Good Bye, Lenin! is a political film set against the unification of Germany. The director Wolfgang Becker mirrors the political events of the time by telling what happened in an ordinary family. The film's narrative strategy is ingenious that the humorous plot makes its description of historical events get rid of strong ideological constraints and serious political film routines, which is entertaining, relaxing and warm. This blog will analyze the frame of a shot occurs in the movie 00:34:14-00:34:17; it depicts a scene where Alexander and his friend Denis are playing instruments happily after setting up Alexander's mother Christiane's room as it was eight months ago. Let’s dive in.
Camerawork
In this shot, the static camera is placed next to the door. The director uses the framing of a long shot, that is, standing characters appear almost the screen's height. According to Kapczynski (2007, pp.91-92), long shot encourages audiences to adopt an investigative state towards the characters; as it could help the audience watch clearly the character’s action in the scene. From the stationary camera, the whole process of Alexander and Denis decorating in the room is shot in a fast-forward mode; it allows the audience to see a number of characters’ activities in a short time. Stationary camera, long shot, and fast-forward enhance the shot's authenticity; since it seems like documentary shooting style: the camera is placed in a concealed position to record the subject's behaviour under the lens truly. This shot exposes the character under the surveillance and may encourage viewers to observe the characters' various behaviour from an investigative stance.
Second, in Good Bye, Lenin!, the plot's promotion is accompanied by Alexander's first-person description of his behaviour. The protagonist's narration is like his reminiscence of the past after experiencing these events depicted in the movie. To some extent, there are two Alexander in the film; one is in the past state, referring to Alexander who was experiencing these events in the past; the other is in the present state, referring to Alexander who is describing his past experiences. In the process of self-description, Alexander recalled and watched his or Denis’s past behaviour in his memory. As mentioned above, when audiences are watching this shot, they tend to adopt a surveillance state. Moreover, this shot also establishes a subtle triangular relationship between the audience and Alexander. To a certain extent, Alexander and the audience are jointly observing the subject's behaviour in this shot. From another perspective, Alexander is also the subject observed by the audience. This camerawork has brought a close connection between the audience and the Alexander: Viewers not only watch Alexander's life from a distance; but also, the viewers and Alexander stand in the same position to watch this shot, that is, they watch jointly on Alexander’s past experiences.
Intertextuality
In this shot, “the static camera, the fast-forward behaviour of characters and the classical music reflects the allusion to A Clockwork Orange (Hillman, 2006, p.230).” In A Clockwork Orange, a similar shooting style is used to describe the scene where the protagonist, also named Alexander, has unbridled sex with two women in his room; it embodies the character's free and unrestrained state. In the shot of Good Bye, Lenin!, the sound is an accelerated version of William Tell Overture, which is composed to celebrate the Swiss people's heroic spirit to resist oppression and fight for independence. The accelerated behaviour and music create a joyful atmosphere,which looks like a carnival between two characters in the room. The director may use the allusion in this shot to imply Alexander and Denis' desire for freedom and their ecstatic mental state when facing German reunification.
Mise-en-scene
Good Bye, Lenin! represents the abstract social phenomena within a cinematic tradition; the director concretely depicts the complicated society at that time through describing what happened in a family (Manning & Shackford-bradley, 2010, p.38). In the shot, the room is decorated by Alexander and Denis, with old-fashioned furniture, such as carpets, chandeliers, and wardrobes; a statuette of Lenin's head is placed on the desk. Christiane’s room is decorated as it was eight months ago, which contrasts with the surrounding environment where Germany is reunifying. The old decoration may symbolize East Germany, which is a relatively conservative socialist country. However, in the shot, Alexander and Denis, wearing jeans and T-shirts, are ecstatically playing musical instruments, singing, and dancing. Free clothing and behaviour may symbolize West Germany, a relatively open capitalist country. The director uses a conflict between the characters and the environment in this small room to symbolize the intense conflict between East and West German cultures during Germany's reunification.
Furthermore, in the shot, Alexander and Denis are playing wildly in Christiane's room; Denis hit the overhead chandelier, kick the desk and even smashed the desk with his musical instrument. This aggressive behaviour hints at Denis and Alexander's perverse behaviour towards Christiane in the following plot, that is, they cooperate in deceiving Christiane in various ways. Based on the previous analysis of characters and environment, Denis’s aggressive behaviour in Christiane’s room may also symbolize the shock of the open and free ideology of West Germany on the East German people after the reunification.
In terms of lighting, the three light sources in the scene are parallel, and the height is approximately in the center of the screen. The director didn’t choose to turn on the chandelier above Denis, but chose three lamps that are almost on the same level as the two characters,without being significantly higher or lower than the characters. This kind of lighting emphasizes a balance between the role and the environment, rather than which is more dominant. In other words, it represents the interaction and mutual influence of the environment and the role. As mentioned above, probably, the characters symbolize West Germany; the environment symbolize East Germany; Becker’s use of lights also implies the mutual influence between East and West German cultures in this movie.
Overall
The intertextuality and mise-en-scene of the shot represent the effect of the enormous social changes through telling the story of an ordinary family. As Alexander says at the end: “In the sky, Christiane is floating and maybe she is looking down at us; and sees us as tiny dots on our little earth (Becker, 2003).” In the extremely long history of mankind and in the vast universe, the stories of a person, a society, and a country seem insignificant. Becker’s commemoration of that era transcends ideology and culture; it will become a history that could exist forever.
(1095)
Reference
Becker, W. (2003).Good Bye, Lenin!. Germany: X Filme Creative Pool.
Hillman, R. (2006). Good Bye, Lenin (2003): History in the Subjunctive. Rethinking History, 10(2), 221-237. doi:10.1080/13642520600648558
Kapczynski, J. M. (2007). Negotiating Nostalgia: The GDR Past in Berlin Is in Germany and Good Bye, Lenin!.The Germanic Review: Literature, Culture, Theory, 82(1), 78-100. doi: 10.3200/GERR.82.1.78-100
Manning, C., & Shackford-bradley, J. (2010).Global Subjects in Motion: Strategies for Representing Globalization in Film. Journal of film and video, 62(3), 36-52.