Sonnenallee

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 caught this one on a long flight from Singapore to Vancouver in German with English subtitles and I really loved it, it was really funny and sad in some ways at the same time.

I probably can relate to it more than the average North American because I grew up in Europe, but I think the movie would be very enjoyable for more or less everybody, and surely better than some crappy movies recently seen on this side of the ocean

Highly recommended if you can find it.

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!

When you haven't watched a movie because you thought it would be way too dramatic ... and it turns out it is more a comedy. I finally came around to watch this. German movies can be good and can be bad - which I reckon is true for any other countries movies too. But when you have to decide what to watch, there was a time where I just wasn't ready to experiment with German movies - so that is on me.

Having seen this the other day, I have to admit, the beginning alone with the main character walking on the street, with all the east/west conflict (do not confuse this with East Coast and West Coast rap battle/war) - a subject that Germany likes to explore in movies. And when it is done with such an ease as here ... well everyone is happy.