L'Allée du Soleil

'Sonnenallee' is definitly the funniest german pic this year and furthermore a perfectly developed piece of history, that soon will be forgotten trough to the fall of the berlin wall. The biggest plus on Leander Haussmanns film is the cast of no-names, who give so much realism to the flick that you feel thrown back in time without any doubt. And I laughed troughout the whole 90 minutes. Nevertheless will it be difficult for the movie to get real attention outside germany trough to the specific theme, but a must for everyone inside this country.

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.

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!!

I am sure that those who have at least their childhood (like me) spent in a pseudo-socialist undemocratic country, would watch Sonnenallee with sense of recognition, with things most of us have probably aimed to forget. On the other hand, when you are young, minor, your perceptions are still different from those of adults, who are in need of living on and supporting their family. First love, new music, friendship, coming of age, hobbies, plans for future are universal. In my opinion, all those aspects are well and realistically (now one can giggle or laugh out these absurd things) depicted in this movie, with convincing performances by an even cast. By the way, the Soviets would have vacated all streets close to their "enemy", odd that it was possible to live so close to the Berlin Wall.

Furtermore, I would disagree with them who think that Sonnenallee is a kind of glorification of the GDR. Really? For nonrenovated houses, constant shortage of even crumbling goods, brainwash by authorities, fear for police and "rats", strict punishments for harmless pranks, limited travel options, etc.? Those who do had apparently a "good" life at the expense of others...

I can hardly guess how films like this would act upon the people unaware of socialist dictatorships. Perhaps they would regard them as unintelligent comedies. But the film in question could be shown more within the former Eastern bloc.

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.