Synopsis
A dedicated young German boy pulls off an elaborate scheme to keep his mother in good health in this comedy drama from director Wolfgang Becker. Suffering a heart attack and falling into a coma after seeing her son arrested during a protest, Alex's (Daniel Brühl) socialist mother, Christiane (Katrin Sass), remains comatose through the fall of the Berlin wall and the German Democratic Republic. Knowing that the slightest shock could prove fatal upon his mother's awakening, Alex strives to keep the fall of the GDR a secret for as long as possible. Keeping their apartment firmly rooted in the past, Alex's scheme works for a while, but it's not long before his mother is feeling better and ready to get up and around again. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Year: 2003
Runtime: 118
Country: Germany
MPAA Rating: R
for brief language and sexuality
Category: Feature
Produced by
ARTE
Westdeutscher Rundfunk
X Filme Creative Pool
Release
February 27, 2004 (USA - Limited)
by
Sony Pictures Classics
Warner Brothers Germany
Awards
2003 - Best European Film - European Film Academy
2003 - Best European Film - Jameson People's Choice Award
2003 - Best Film from the European Union - French Academy of Cinema
2003 - Best Foreign Language Film - Golden Globe
2003 - Blue Angel Award for Best European Film - Berlin International Film Festival
2003 - Best Foreign Language Film - Hollywood Foreign Press Association
2003 - Best Film from the European Union - French Academy of Cinema
2003 - Blue Angel Award - Berlin International Film Festival
2004 - Film Presented - Sundance Film Festival