Two Movies

For this blog, there will be a comparison between two German films. The first film is called, Good Bye Lenin. This is a film about a young man named Alex Kerner. He lives with his family consisting of his mother, his sister, and his sister's daughter. Alex is a member of an anti-government demonstration, and sees a girl whom takes his fancy shortly before a riot breaks out and he is arrested. His mother sees him being arrested and has a heart attack and slips into a coma. Alex is released to see his ill mother that evening, where to his surprise, he sees and finally meets the girl from the riot. She is a young nurse who is taking care of his mother.The two soon begin to date. Not long after, the Berlin Wall falls, and capitalism is unleashed upon East Berlin. Alex wins a job in a lottery for installing satellite dishes. Eight months later, his mother awakens, but any amount of shock could bring on another heart attack. Alex and his family create the old world which his mother had known, and portray it day after day to his now bed ridden mother. This becomes increasingly difficult, and eventually Alex's girlfriend tells his mother everything. His mother died two days later, peacefully.

The second film is called, The Edukators. It is a film about three young activists in Berlin, Jule, Peter, and Jan. Jule is a waitress who has to pay back a very heavy debt to a wealthy man for crashing into his car. She is evicted from her apartment, and moves in with Peter and Jan. Jan tells Jule that he and Peter go around in the middle of the night, break into wealthy people's homes, rearrange their furniture, and leave a note saying they have too much money. Jule convinces the two to let her come with to break into the house of the man she is in debt to. During their break in, Jule loses her phone. They must return the next day. While looking for the phone, the owner comes into the house, only to be knocked out and taken hostage. The three friends take him to a cabin that belongs to Jule's uncle. While they are there, they learn more about the man, and eventually let him go. He gives Jule a note saying to not worry about the debt or the police. That night, ploice break into the apartment the three have been sharing. The police only find a note which says, Some People Never Change.