Daniel Bruhl

G is for Good Bye Lenin! (2003)

When his mother Christiane (Katrin Saß) wakes from an eighth month coma, Alex (Daniel Brühl) does everything he can to keep her from learning that her beloved nation of East Germany as she knew it has disappeared, because a sudden shock may kill her.

The premise of Good Bye Lenin! sounds farcical but it works. Alex’s mother falls into a coma before the Berlin Wall came down and the unification of Germany. Alex, his sister Ariane (Maria Simon} and the rest of the population of what was East Germany has had months to get used to the changes – the good and the bad. So, when their mother wakes up and Alex comes up with the scheme, their friends and neighbours get in on the act of keeping up the charade.

Being set in 1990, it’s interesting to see how such a change in society and politics can happen so quickly, and how people can get used to the new normal relatively easy too. It’s the little details like how Alex has to re-jar all the food that’s now from international producers into jars with labels that his mother would know.

Saß and Brühl have a believable mother/son relationship and Daniel Brühl gives a great performance (when doesn’t he?), especially when things start to get out of hand, and he struggles to hold everything together.

Good Bye Lenin! is a sweet and funny family drama. The humour of the situation works well, and the comedic moments never takes away from the more quieter, dramatic moments. It has a real sense of community as neighbours help Christiane live out the past. But really, it’s a film about the love a son has for his mother, and how he will tell the most elaborate lie to keep her safe. 3/5.

E is for The Edukators (2004)

Three friends, Jan (Daniel Brühl), Jule (Julia Jentsch) and Peter (Stipe Erceg), lead a silent revolution as they break into rich people’s houses and unnerve them through their protest art. That is until one homeowner returns sooner than expected, forcing them to cobble together a kidnapping plot that threatens their political beliefs and their trust in each other.

The main trio all give great performances as idealistic anti-capitalists. Their daily struggles, especially Jule’s as a waitress in a high-end restaurant where the customers often make ridiculous demands, are easy to understand and they are looking for a way to release their pent-up anger and frustration in the world they live in.

When they are forced to kidnap businessman Hardenberg (Burghart Klaußner) to save their own skin, things start to spiral. It’s through discussions with him that their youthful optimism and idealism clashes is shown how it clashes with an older pragmatism. They want to change the world, or at least be able to make at least one person change their thoughts and habits, but Hardenberg demonstrates the reality that even those with the best intentions can in time find themselves following the societal norm.

It’s not just their political ideals that are called into question, but their relationships too. All three of them have great chemistry in whatever combination, and their character dynamics mean they each balance the others out really well. Jule and Peter are a couple and while Jan has been friends with Peter for years, he and Jule had never had much to do with one another. But as they spend more time together, Jule and Jan get closer. The trio’s relationship is an interesting one and all the way through I was thinking a lot of their problems (keeping secrets, lack of good communication) could be solved if they were in a polyamorous relationship, by the end of the film, I was pleasantly surprised to see that they may have gone down that route, though nothing was ever explicit.

I’m somewhat surprised there hasn’t been an English-language remake of The Edukators yet, if or when there ever is it’ll be set in LA and will probably miss some of the nuances in the original. Plus, I’m sure it’d forego the hints at a potentially polyamorous relationship between the main trio.

The Edukators presents interesting ideas on revolution, capitalism and protest, how individuals can or can not change things, and it often depends on the people they have surrounding them, and how far they’re willing to go. 4/5.

REVIEW: The Zookeeper’s Wife (2017)

The true story of Antonina (Jessica Chastain) and Jan Zabinski (Johan Heldenbergh), keepers of the Warsaw Zoo, who helped saved hundreds of Jews during the German invasion.

The Zookeeper’s Wife is a beautiful looking film. So bright when the zoo is open and thriving, it’s almost idyllic before the Nazi’s invade, Antonina cuddles lion cubs and her son Ryszard (Timothy Radford and Val Maloku) has a pet skunk. Living and working in a zoo almost seems utopian until it’s suddenly and violently attacked. The juxtaposition of the innocence of animals to the cruelty of people can be a little heavy handed at times but there are certain moments of brilliance, like when tigers and lions walk down the bombed streets of Warsaw.

There’s a throbbing sense of foreboding once Antonina and Jan decide to try and help the Jewish people who had been rounded up into a ghetto. Every person is a potential threat from the cook, to neighbours and of course the German soldiers who are always on patrol. They have a plan and a system in place but there’s always the threat of discovering hanging over their heads like a guillotine.

The Nazi occupation is personified by German zoologist Lutz Heck (Daniel Brühl) who is forever a lurking and watching the Zabinski’s. It begins as a mutual love of animals but his interest soon turns to Antonina causing an extra thread of tension to grow not only between the two of them but also between Antonina and Jan.

The themes of love, friendship and loyalty in the face of hatred, which are so often seen in films set in this time period, are no less affecting. This is down to great writing and brilliant performances from all involved. The Zookeeper’s Wife is sometimes a brutal and upsetting experience but there is still hope in the way Antonina and Jan resist the Nazi occupation and their ideologies. 4/5.

SPOILER REVIEW: Captain America: Civil War (2016)

I posted my spoiler-free review of Captain America: Civil War a few days ago and you can read that here. This my spoiler review and it’s kind of ended up in any old order where I mostly talk about each character and what I liked about them. Be warned this is a long post – it’s over 1,800 words! Now below is all my spoiler-filled thoughts on the movie so once again you have been warned! I really advise you not to read any further if you haven’t seen the film. (more…)