Marketic It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

Voxitype Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

steffilambert I watched this film as it was recommended by a friend and also it could be incorporated into a project I have to do in my University.When I watched the opening 5 minutes I thought it would be another depressing look in the GDR culture, but the story line was up beat and kept me entertained throughout! My favourite part was when his friend is shot as there is a black out and they think people are going to try and run to get through to the West. However the bullet that 'hits' him, hits his LP instead and shatters the Rolling Stones LP which he had just bought. I also enjoyed at the school dance when the boys danced to T-Rex!!!! It was a great hindsight into the culture of the GDR, which in recent years has been noted for its oppressiveness. I like the light-heartiness of the film content and it is very similar in certain themes to "Goodbye Lenin" Enjoy!

GermanChic00 When I first saw this movie I watched it from a unique perspective. Actually, two unique perspectives... One is that of an American and the other is that of a German. I see this film as a giant leap in German culture. You may be asking yourself why... It is a comedy, not a drama, the acting is good but not stellar, and the film is only about a small portion of German culture (that doesn't even exist anymore). How can a movie like that be a major step in German culture? I'll tell you... This movie deals with History. Not just history, modern history. the ONLY people in Germany who haven't lived through this period in History are children under the age of 9 (as of the release of this film in 1999) EVERYONE was touched by the cold war and the split of Germany into east and west. In my opinion, the day a culture can joke about its history is the day in which they have come to terms with what happened and have accepted the facts... Sonnenallee is the first film (to my knowledge) that has satirized former East Germany and its everyday life (including the Stasi...secret service and the Grenzpolizei.. boarder patrol) To me this shows that the Germans have accepted their history and are ready to move on... Bravo!!!!! :-)

MayhapsItWasGoodBackThen I had absolutely no idea of what this film was about (other than that it was supposed to be a comedy of some sort) and therefore had hardly any grand expectations of it. A German movie? Right... well why not give it a try anyways... and what do you know, this film turned out to be an excellent one!Fresh, funny and tragic, full of lively acting (Thanks to great actors albeit rather unknown to bigger audience I presume), clever script and witty and eloquent dialogue. A sort of coming-of-age story in a disturbing setting which is not exactly the world of opportunities to say the least. Craving for something so bad it's about the only thing you live for (be that a new rock album, a girl you've fallen in love with or something else), rise of counter-culture idealism, loss of innocence, making important choices for the first time in your life (and having sex with more partners than with just yourself, heh).Altho an average American might think this story must have been a vastly exaggerated, it's not (I'm not of German origin either so I don't have a strong personal feel on the topics this picture deals with but I've read my share of history books so I dare to say I have the basic facts right in which to back myself up). Strip down the humorous elements and I bet you get what life pretty much was back then in the East-Germany. Strong censorship, limited freedom of speech (banned topics, one-party politics), one of the closest guarded boarder lines in the history of mankind with extremely thorough customs procedures etc etc.It now seems more than unbelievable that there once was a huge wall (and mind you people just 12 years back in history!) which divided a whole city in the middle thus separating an entire nation in two: to the rich west and the poor east. People in the East-Germany forced to live under the forever observing eyes of the Big Brother in the communists' utopia while the better-off people of the West-Germany lived the capitalists' dream...But still entire families were simultaneously torn apart, former friends and neighbors now living on the other side were seen as traitors and enemies of the state by both sides. The threat was always coming from "the other side" depending on which side you were living in! West-Germans looking down and pitying on their Eastern neighbor while East-Germans envy the western lifestyle but want to hold onto their pride. Common shared past is something you just can't wipe out altogether. Ridiculous times but unfortunately true nevertheless.I felt that this movie dealt with important issues and things which we should never forget. We all know it's easier to cope with difficult situations if you can filter them through humor and see something good and redeeming in most things rather than always seeing the worst in everything.Don't get me wrong this isn't a serious movies or hard one to watch per se (except for the ending)- it's great fun but if so desired a great opportunity to start a discussion. There were many outrageously funny scenes and on more than one occasion I burst out laughing out loud!I strongly recommend seeing this movie. Saved my day at least!

marco-111 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 oceanHighly recommended if you can find it.