The Lives of Others and Goodbye, Lenin are two movies cleverly depicted about the fall of Communism. One director chooses to portray humor as the base of his movie, while the other chooses a more dark and serious tone. Both directors clearly want their viewers to understand the seriousness of what the fall of the Berlin Wall meant and the importance of Germany’s East West unionization for the citizens of the GSD. However, a hidden truth in both movies is revealed. Truth about a culture that once existed, but has since been swept under the carpet of change. The late 80s brought on the fall of the Berlin Wall signifying the end of the Stalinist regimes that had once held so much power. Outlined below are two movies that, while so different in their delivery, end with the same clear message. …show more content…
I’d almost have to compare the Stasi to the American Mafia only the Stasi were supposed to be the ‘good guys’. Growing up, the vision of what everyone in America was left to believe about Germans is a mirror image of this movie. Basically, you can’t speak, write or act in any manner that projects ‘you were not a loyalist’ to the GSD. The German police would go to no ends to unearth an individual not siding with the right team. This movie has a very dark and serious tone to it. The director clearly paints a picture of how menacing and bullied a person could feel living in East Germany. Nothing was sacred, and if you didn’t ‘obey’ the rules, you were punished or
Goodbye Lenin! (2003) appropriates the individual as bound to his environment, threaded, through strong cultural codes, to his neighbour. Regardless of the system, communist or capitalist, and though our goals may deviate, we are all pursuing happiness and comfort, the tools used to attain this products of that society. That said, it is immediately legible whereabouts Becker wishes us to view the East German state as wholly negative, and he does this through several key scenes.
Furthermore, throughout the film Wolfgang Becker also uses Cultural aspects of East Berlin and West Berlin. Wolfgang Becker also shows the differences between East and West living. In Goodbye Lenin Alex found it difficult to keep the reign of GDR alive, as East Berlin was becoming into West Berlin. Alex’s mother Christiane was making things more difficult for Alex as the supermarkets were emptied and it was almost impossible to find the food Christiane wanted e.g. Spreewald Pickles and Globus Peas (00:42:10). Alex uses old bottles and bottle labels that were found in the rubbish dump and fills them up with western food he buys from the supermarket (00:41:31) one reason behind this is so Alex’s mother Christiane does not find out about the changes
Set at the end of the Cold War in East Germany, the movie Goodbye Lenin is the story of a young man, Alex, trying to protect his mother, Christiane, who just spent the last eight months in a coma. Christiane is a personification of the values and ideology of socialism. She carries them out in her interactions with society, and is very hopeful towards the success of the regime. During her absence, the fall of the Berlin Wall and of the German Democratic Republic leads to a radical and turbulent change in society: the fall of socialism and the triumph of capitalism. Because of the shocking effect of such information and the danger of another heart attack, Alex creates for Christiane an ideological form of socialism. Fundamental themes in the movie are the difference between ideal and reality of socialism, as well as the positive and negative aspects of the transition to free market capitalism. Such themes are carried out through a juxtaposition of an ideal society and its reality in the form of a constructed reality of socialism. This idealized version of socialism served as an oasis from the chaotic transition from a problematic socialist regime to free market capitalism.
The Book Stasiland uses the interviews with victims and perpetrators to inform the reader on life in East Germany. To some extent, Anna Funder does paint a black a white picture of her views, separating the victims from the perpetrators. As she despises the GDR/Stasi, Funder still acknowledges that many of the officials were just doing what was told and were reluctant to react, in fear of falling under the stasis harsh rules. Despite this, many of the officials were strong believers in the system, and do not regret life damaged due to their job. The Stories of Miriam, Julia and Frau Paul do highlight how the Stasi’s tough rules, may devastate ones life and Funder recognizes this by sympathizing for the victims. By seeing the effect the
In Berlin, the Iron Curtain had many purposes. It was there to protect, to separate and to enforce a way of life for East Berliners. Firstly, The Wall gave meaning to people’s lives in different ways. It defined where they were to go, who they were to see and who they were to be. For the countless Stasi and informers, it gave them a purpose and an importance in society, and after The Wall came down, that purpose was lost and yearned for. Secondly, The Wall and the controlling ways of the Stasi loomed over the lives of East Berliners, and its implementation was just one of many extreme measures to minimalise Capitalism and encourage Communism. Thirdly, although The Wall
Lastly, there were many things to learn and take from the film, Good-bye, Lenin. I learned how the sudden switch to capitalism from socialism affected the citizens of East Germany, especially how the old socialists were negatively affected. Besides that, I feel as if I already knew about most of what the film went over through the AP Euro history course. The only thing that really surprised me was when the mother admitted that Alex and his sister’s father did not actually cross to West Berlin over a woman. Rather, the father was harassed by the GDR because he was not a
Ronald Reagan, in his speech, (“Berlin Wall”, 1987), the former governor and President of the United States and at the time of the Cold War, “ the most magnetic public figure in the nation”(encyclopedia.com) elucidates to his audience the consequences of residing under the influence of the Soviet Union. Reagan supports his assertion through the use of various rhetorical devices to generate logos, ethos, and pathos. His purpose is to incite a feeling of an injustice done to the people of Berlin and Soviet Allies and to bring down the Berlin Wall as “the most visible symbol of the decades-long Cold War”(History.com) between the Americans and the Soviets during the Cold War. Reagan writes in perfervid tone generated toward the people of Berlin and other Soviet allies in hopes of bringing the Cold War to an end and it is reported by CBS News that he successfully “bolstered the morale of the pro-democracy movement in East Germany”(Brinkley).
It’s shocking how two people from different societies can be both similar and different at the same time. In Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, Linda and Lenina are two such characters. Each of them have their own characteristics which make them unique, but they also have separate characteristics. The three ways in which Lenina and Linda can be compared would be physically, intelligently, and emotionally.
Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Lenin was the Bolshevik leader. He was a clever thinker and a practical man; he knew how to take advantage of events. When Lenin arrived in Russia, he issued a document called the April theses, promising ‘peace, bread, land and freedom’. He called for an end to the ‘Capitalist’ war, and demanded that power should be given to the soviets.
The Life of Leon Trotsky Leon Trotsky is well recognised as one of the greatest Marxists that ever lived. After being arrested, sentenced to exile twice and supporting the Mensheviks, Trotsky was deported to New York Citywhere he was to be a peaceful, productive member of society. Following the removal of the Tsar during the Russian Revolution, Trotsky returned to Russia in May 1917. In August 1917, Trotsky joined the Central Committee of the Bolshevik party whose leader was none other than Vladimir Lenin.
Compare and contrast the ideologies and the political and economic practice of Lenin and Stalin.
The Savage's reaction to Lenina's advances can be taken as an allegory-that is, once you get past thinking of Lenina as a dumb blonde who can't take a hint. Lenina is purely a temptation; self-gratification. Lenina tries to seduce John, but since they come from different cultures and values John want to express his love in different way than her and he rejects Lenina. John wants a loving relationship.But instead Lenina wants in a promiscuity way. She is compared to an animal, and at the moment, maybe viewed her as one too. All of these people at this time do whatever they want, they believe that they’ll get pain or get discomforted, and that thought of pain is horrifying to them. They act on generalities and instinct alone, this makes them
Movies created in Soviet Russia were prominently used as a tool for propaganda, “The Fall of Berlin,” used contrast to idealize Soviet Russia by downplaying Germany and Hitler. “The Fall of Berlin” was released in 1950, right after World War II ended. The film is Soviet propaganda that was thought to insure faith within the Russian population, as Stalin wanted Soviet Russia to believe in him. The movie characterized Stalin with such gratitude and admiration, even I believed he was a good leader.
We are going to examine the movie “Good Bye, Lenin” and identify the ways the movie depicts not only the fall of the GDR, with the Berlin Wall being knocked down and joyful people ringing out from the East, but, also describing the movie as a product of the twenty-first century by the push from communism to capitalism. Both could accurately describe the this movie, but, it is upto you to decided which side is more accurately profound in your perspective.
In contrast to the desolate picture life in East Berlin painted, the economy of West Germany, which also included West Berlin, was rebounding and becoming quite strong. West Berlin’s businesses were booming, and their industry products were readily and rapidly bought by its resident who were eager to obtain the products and goods they had so long been deprived of previously, as a result of World War II.10 This new and heightening demand for goods pushed wages up quickly, and many new jobs were created with the development of new housing units and other construction enterprises.11 Movies, plays, and concerts were also available for West Berlin residents to enjoy, and overall life in West Berlin was good. However, life on the West side wasn’t all fun and games. Their city was still divided, and families were still separated. To the children of West Berlin residents, East Berlin was hidden from view and shrouded in mystery, their only knowledge of the other side coming through school or some form of media. It seemed they constantly asked themselves the question, “ Will the lives of East and West Germans forever be so vastly different and separate?”