The Berlin Wall is gone, but something is still there.

Goodbye, Lenin! is not as aggressive as ordinary political movies. On the contrary, it is very mild. Wolfgang Becker skillfully integrates politics into a humorous and moving family story. In this movie, I am impressed by the nostalgia for the old things after the merger of East and West Germany, that is, Ostalgie. After all, a country that has existed for 41 years will not disappear from people’s memory because of the collapse of a wall. In fact, the social problems brought about by the unification policy of West Germany taking over East Germany gradually emerged after the euphoria brought about by the fall of the Berlin Wall. The implementation of a series of political and economic policies made East German residents aware of the gap between reality and ideal, and began to miss East Germany. Ostalgie is mainly reflected in the nostalgia for East Germany's high employment rate and low poverty rate, harmonious community atmosphere and socialist culture. In my opinion, Good bye, Lenin! is the concentrated expression of Ostalgie. In the film, in order to make the mother who has been in a coma for eight months and missed the unification of Germany no longer be stimulated, her son Alex and his friends dub their own "TV news". They explained the fall of the Berlin Wall, the reunification of Germany and other important historical events in completely opposite ways. Finally, in Alex's "TV news", East Germany continued to the last moment of his mother's life in an ideal socialist state. 

Ostalgie of this film is presented in all kinds of forms. Among them, the most effective is the nostalgia for East German products. According to Kapczynski (2007), nostalgia often works through brand identity. As a result, Ostalgie is tied to goods that have been produced and used. Democratic Germany strictly controlled the life of its citizens through communism. In this case, the goods that people can buy are usually unchangeable. However, after the reunification of Germany, everything changed greatly. Due to the influence of consumerism and global capitalism, there are many choices of goods available for consumption in supermarkets. In addition, these products are constantly updated. In other words, it is hard to have a unique brand or product that will impress a generation. Therefore, these East German original brands and products can be used as cultural and identity markers (Betts, 2003). For example, the cucumber of Spreewald brand in this movie is a unique mark. When Christiane said she wanted to eat this brand of cucumber, Alex came to the supermarket and found that everything had changed. The socialist department store is closed, and there is only a lonely socialist frozen chicken in it. Fortunately, Alex found an empty bottle of Sprewald cucumber in the dustbin downstairs. He poured the Dutch cucumber he bought in the capitalist supermarket into a bottle and gave it to his mother. Through this plot, it is not difficult to understand why the brands and products in the film can evoke the memory of so many people. In addition to food, the film is also a revival of East Germany's daily material culture. Alex's white lies are mainly realized by reconstructing the material world of democratic Germany. Therefore, the decoration of the apartment and the style of clothing must be strictly copied the original appearance. This duplicated democratic Germany evokes an imaginary continuity in East Germany, beyond pure matter (Cook, 2007). The loss of material culture led to the lack of material and social knowledge in East Germany. What is more, the marginalization of material culture and social practice will cause people's dissatisfaction and Ostalgie. At the same time, Alex's efforts to find these products also reflect the East Germans' efforts to find democratic social products swept away by Western products, which is likely to evoke memories among East Germans.

In addition, the film also shows an extraordinary ability to grasp the trauma of democratic Germany with empathy (Godeanu Kenworth, 2011). After the reunification of Germany, the East Germans gradually realized that the power between the two German republics was unequal and unbalanced. Many people are unable to adapt to cultural differences and changing environment, leading to depression and silence. In one scene in the movie, Alex goes to Dr. Klapprath for help. Surprisingly, Klapprath has become a pessimistic alcoholic because he cannot deal with the life after reunification. Cook (2007) mentioned that about 50% of the knowledge acquired by the East Germans in their lifetime becomes useless in the sudden and unforeseen event, and their personal history seems to be deprived in the process of unification. Facing the hard life after reunification, they began to recall East Germany and idealize it. Additionally, this film draws on a form of social interaction, which arouses nostalgia among many East Germans. Just like the memories at the end of the film, the harmonious picture of a family playing together is moving. Goodbye, Lenin! looks back at life in democratic Germany and the possibility of living an idyllic life in a socialist country. In fact, this can be seen as an escape. Under the pressure of capitalism and consumerism, people can only find solace in nostalgic narration. They are eager to free themselves from the fierce competition of the free market economy and live an ordinary and happy life with their friends and family.

The fall of the Berlin Wall does not mean that East Germany will be erased forever. Goodbye, Lenin! makes full use of all kinds of conditions to evoke the Ostalgie of people, whether they come from East Germany or West Germany. These reminiscences do not represent unconditional praise of East Germany, but yearning for some aspects of the East German social environment. For me, the statue of Lenin holding out his hand in the film may not be saying goodbye to East Germany, but inviting it back.

Reference (APA):

Betts, P. (2003). Remembrance of things past: nostalgia in west and east Germany, 1980-2000. Pain and prosperity: reconsidering twentieth century German history, 178-207. Retrieved from http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/23416/

Cook, R. F. (2007). Good Bye, Lenin! : Free-Market Nostalgia for Socialist Consumerism.Seminar: A Journal of Germanic Studies,43(2), 206–219. doi: 10.1353/smr.2007.0027

Kapczynski, J. M. (2007). Negotiating nostalgia: the GDR past in Berlin is in Germany and Good Bye, Lenin!The Germanic Review,82(1), 78. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.ez.xjtlu.edu.cn/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsglr&AN=edsglr.A164255521&site=eds-live&scope=site

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), 161–177. doi:10.1177/0047244111399717