GOOD BYE, LENIN! (2003) **** What is Wolfgang Becker trying to do?! Is it an apologia for the excesses of capitalism? A call to arms for socialist revolutionaries? The declaration of a third way that achieves the highest aims of each? A love letter to Berlin backstreets? Whatever it is, it's an absolute masterpiece. What it says, to me, is that the social needs and aspirations of humanity dwarf what politics has become. Becker layers scenes so rapidly, skillfully and seamlessly...a lot of directors are able to present both comedy and tragedy, but Becker mixes in heady doses of satire. Maybe ten scenes from the end I hoped that he would wrap it up, because it was so perfect and I didn't want the feeling diluted. Incredibly, a few extraordinary turns later he finally wrapped up a film even more intense and mystifying than the one I had wanted to protect. Through it all, Becker doesn't once make the slightest hint at an overt political statement. I couldn't guess, with any confidence at all, how he votes, or even whether he thinks that there's any point to it. The message is "human," which he apparently believes to contrast with "political." "Go ahead," he seems to say, "be a corporate raider, or be an activist demanding change, but whatever you do, just try and be a human about it. And know that there are people trying to be humans on the other side. And pay special attention if you see someone acting like Florian Lucas."
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