In the 21st century, although socialist history was still frequently engaged in the form of nostalgic films, there is a marked shift in its narrative and presentation. Films represented by Wolfgang Becker’s Good Bye Lenin! try to capture a reflective form of nostalgia beyond a restorative one. Ostalgia is a keyword to describe such a new ideological trend, not only generalizes a social psychological mechanism and structure but also reflects the theoretical and social issues caused by these films. It deconstructs the nostalgic transformation and reveals the demands of the post-communist era that responds to this phenomenon (Bloom, 2000). People in the former socialist countries are widely aware of they are not the real beneficiaries of the new capitalist system in the reality of capitalism after the upheaval. Without the social welfare and guarantee of socialism, they gradually become the object of deprivation under the capitalist system. Such a dual sense of loss attaches the psychological syndrome of Ostalgia to a clear sense of criticism and reflection. In the film Good Bye Lenin!, a critical reflection of the GDR past and reconstitution of individual identity merge to present post-communist countries’ complex response to the past.
The object of nostalgia is a form of spatialized time, which is attached to a specific thing or a certain space, and then it becomes nostalgic. The invasion of capitalist products from the West results in the collapse of the East market system. In the film Good Bye Lenin!, Alex (Daniel Bruhl) can no longer find the canned pickles that the mother wants due to the virtual disappearance of old products sold in the supermarkets. He repackages Western products into old Eastern labels to maintain the illusion for Christiane (Kathrin Sass). Moreover, the deserted apartments that remain in the interior environment of the past, also symbolize the nostalgic carrier of the former GDR memory. When Alex finds the old merchandise still preserved in the apartment, he could remain and escape temporarily in this utopia isolated from the changing world. Godeanu-Kenworthy (2011) illustrated that brands and consumption goods facilitate to construct of symbolic boundaries between the Self and the Other. Therefore, when the old boundaries have disappeared, products symbolize the past help individuals create their nostalgic world in an empty form.
Besides, the FRG’s takeover of the GDR symbolizes that another set of brands, consumptions, and completely different ideology intrude into the everyday life in the former GDR. The phenomenon is embodied when Alex firstly watches the adult video, and Ariane (Maria Simon) gives up her study and works at Burger King. Further, the fact that consumerism and individualism successfully conquer the ideological system of the East is symbolically illustrated by the Coca-Cola poster hanging on the building and the noisy costume party. To prevent the mother from the shock of western capitalism, Alex creates a continuing GDR in the small room. The fictitious East German news reported by Alex’s colleague who pretends to be an anchorman. People get back into the relatively conservative clothing -- symbolic plaid shirts and coats of low saturation color. These familiar scenes also reawaken the audience's memories of the old East German and become the nostalgic carrier. These items as the symbol of the GDR help to construct a barrier against the invasion of the West. Finally, Christiane does not notice the distinction when she consumes those products that are repacked, and it is suggested that people's obsession with the GDR past is empty. Such an obsession is more about the form (Cooke, 2005).
In the film, history and politics are projected as ordinary figures so that the spectator shift their attention from social change to its impact on individual fate. Becker incorporates history into the destiny of a family even arranges the fiction figure with the historical figure. For instance, the film uses effects to create a dynamic image of the leader of GDR Honecker shaking hands with Christiane. Also, family members respectively symbolize social patterns. The mother represents the East and the father represents the West. Alex, therefore, is the epitome of East German. Before meeting the father, the father figure that exists in Alex’s mind is a fat-bellied man who is selfish and greedy. Alex’s imagination of his father is synonymous with the ambivalent relationship of the East to its Western counterpart in the early stage. The West in the East German’s impression is a kingdom on the ‘Other’ of ideology, which is the embodiment of corrupt and depraved bourgeois values. On the other hand, it is a mysterious land full of freedom and affluence (Cooke, 2005). Alex gradually accepts the mother’s absolute dominance when he grows up and has merged himself into life with the mother. Before the fall of the Berlin Wall, the different image of West Germany is both menacing and attractive.
The small room is seemingly the illusion that the ‘GDR continues to live and expand’, which is created by Alex for Christiane. However, it is a utopia for Alex himself to escape from social reality. After the reunification, East Germans lose their original identity due to the demise of the country. The transformation of their social status and institution leads to a strong sense of loss and confusion about the future. It emerges the memory of past life in the East to acquire utopian features (Boyer, 2006). People begin to recall the past and idealize the life they had lost. However, in the scene that when Alex knows that Christiane and GDR socialism is to blame for the break-up of his family, then the perfect mother figure crumbled. It also predicts that people have to return to reality from the utopia. When Alex walks into the father's yard, the capitalist world, he begins to come into contact with the real society. It means he becomes independent from the shelter of his mother.
Good Bye Lenin! expresses the utopian ideal for the GDR past and conveyed it to the audience through the Ostalgic fragment. The reflective Ostalgia is not only a form of mourning for the past but also a reminder that alerts people to address reality.
by Maoyu
Reference
Bloom, M. (2000). Remaking the East German past: Ostalgie, identity and material culture. Journal of Popular Culture. 34(3), pp. 53-229.
Boyer, D. (2006). Ostalgie and the politics of the future in Eastern Germany. Public Culture. 18(2), pp. 81-361.
Cooke, P. (2005). Representing East Germany since Unification. Berg: Oxford University Press.
Godeanu-Kenworthy, O. (2011). Deconstructing Ostalgia: The national past between commodity and simulacrum in Wolfgang Becker’s Good Bye Lenin! (2003). Journal of European Studies. 41(2), pp. 161–177. DOI: 10.1177/0047244111399717.