Sonnenallee

When I saw this movie I was in Germany for a period of studying with my university, and in the first days I was there, we attended a small course to let us know something more about German culture... anyway, in those first days our teacher proposed to see this movie, because she thought it could be useful for us, and she was right!! I didn't understand all the things the characters said ( I didn't know so good the language at that time ), but I could understand the major situations and make myself a small idea of the atmosphere the people in East Berlin lived in... the great thing is that they make it not with a drama, but using irony, awkward situations and lots of fun!! I will see it soon again, but I recommend it to everybody if someone wants to laugh, but also to think a bit about the problems the totalitarianism brought with it. Ciao dall'Italia!!

As an American who lived in former East Germany for a time, I was impressed by the way this film portrayed the ambivalence many Ossis felt about the fall of the Wall. The characters were more nuanced and their treatment more sensitive than that seen in the more popular Goodbye Lenin which, while a good movie, is more about the character's relationship with his mother than it is an accurate portrayal of life in East Germany. Goodbye Lenin seems to reduce the Ossi existence to communist commodification -- to be an Ossi is about what kind of pickles you eat -- whereas Sonnenallee allows its characters to be much more than consumers. In interviews with the makers of Goodbye Lenin, they have mentioned that much of their inspiration for their treatment of East Germans came from TV shows on East Germans.... Sonnenallee presents the eastern life without the extra refraction of the television screen.

The movie is located in a Berlin street of the 70's - the Sonnenallee. The street is divided by the Wall. Micha and his friends live on the other side of the Wall - in the East.

This movie shows us that DDR-Kids were not very different from those in the West. They are not interested in politics or communism, but in what is much more important: SEX DRUGS AND ROCK 'N' ROLL!

In addition to this interesting insight into everyday life in the DDR the movie is really funny. There are so many comedy elements in it. There is for example a scene in which a East German soldier tries to explain to a West German why the Eastern radio is superior to the Western technology - it has less functions and is therefore easier to handle. And the disastrous party is just great... But - just watch it!

I've seen Sonnenallee in a small European film fest in Ottawa in the fall of 2001. This film is another reason to blame commercially-driven distributors for the lack of variety in our movie theaters. Here is a funny, daring film about life in Communist East Berlin in the 70s that would not have found its way to our screens but thanks to innovative festival programmers. It took courage to even think about making a comedy (with musical overtones, no less !) on such a subject. Yet, thanks to energetic direction, an enthusiastic cast, and some truly memorable ideas (the scene with the multi-table is a real gem, and the take on West Berliners probably well deserved !), Sonnenallee will stay in your minds for a long time. And the joyful finale, complete with East Berliners dancing their way up to the infamous wall, makes you wonder why the film was not also titled : East Side Story.

I had absolutely no idea of what this film was about (other than that it was supposed to be a comedy of some sort) and therefore had hardly any grand expectations of it. A German movie? Right... well why not give it a try anyways... and what do you know, this film turned out to be an excellent one!

Fresh, funny and tragic, full of lively acting (Thanks to great actors albeit rather unknown to bigger audience I presume), clever script and witty and eloquent dialogue. A sort of coming-of-age story in a disturbing setting which is not exactly the world of opportunities to say the least. Craving for something so bad it's about the only thing you live for (be that a new rock album, a girl you've fallen in love with or something else), rise of counter-culture idealism, loss of innocence, making important choices for the first time in your life (and having sex with more partners than with just yourself, heh).

Altho an average American might think this story must have been a vastly exaggerated, it's not (I'm not of German origin either so I don't have a strong personal feel on the topics this picture deals with but I've read my share of history books so I dare to say I have the basic facts right in which to back myself up). Strip down the humorous elements and I bet you get what life pretty much was back then in the East-Germany. Strong censorship, limited freedom of speech (banned topics, one-party politics), one of the closest guarded boarder lines in the history of mankind with extremely thorough customs procedures etc etc.

It now seems more than unbelievable that there once was a huge wall (and mind you people just 12 years back in history!) which divided a whole city in the middle thus separating an entire nation in two: to the rich west and the poor east. People in the East-Germany forced to live under the forever observing eyes of the Big Brother in the communists' utopia while the better-off people of the West-Germany lived the capitalists' dream...

But still entire families were simultaneously torn apart, former friends and neighbors now living on the other side were seen as traitors and enemies of the state by both sides. The threat was always coming from "the other side" depending on which side you were living in! West-Germans looking down and pitying on their Eastern neighbor while East-Germans envy the western lifestyle but want to hold onto their pride. Common shared past is something you just can't wipe out altogether. Ridiculous times but unfortunately true nevertheless.

I felt that this movie dealt with important issues and things which we should never forget. We all know it's easier to cope with difficult situations if you can filter them through humor and see something good and redeeming in most things rather than always seeing the worst in everything.

Don't get me wrong this isn't a serious movies or hard one to watch per se (except for the ending)- it's great fun but if so desired a great opportunity to start a discussion. There were many outrageously funny scenes and on more than one occasion I burst out laughing out loud!

I strongly recommend seeing this movie. Saved my day at least!