Talk of the fall of the Berlin Wall (was it really 20 years ago?) reminded me of the great movie, Goodbye Lenin, that was recommended to me several years ago by a friend from a former communist country. He thought the movie was hilarious and so did I.

The story is told by Alex, the son of a woman who had a heart attack and went into a coma just before the wall fell. Eight months later the woman wakes up in a hospital bed in the former East Berlin and the rest of her family are afraid that if she realizes that her beloved Communist regime is no more, she will have another heart attack.

Mom is too weak to get out of bed so Alex decides that he will keep the truth from her by simulating the post-fall world, including reinstalling the drab decor of her old bedroom at home, transferring western food into jars with old labels before preparing her meals and doctoring old newscasts and replaying them over a hidden video machine.

Lots of laughs, many layers of meaning, and a poignant ending.

Here's a taste: