tMF | The Movie-Fanatic

In this series of articles, tMF puts the spotlight on films which deals with certain important historical events or the portrayal of important historical figures.

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In Part 1, we're featuring 2 films - Goodbye, Lenin! and Little Ashes - and you might wonder why.... The complete details on the event or the historical figure and about the movies right after the jump!
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The Berlin Wall, The Fall of Comunism and an Idealistic German Youth

On November 9, Europe will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall. What better way to celebrate than to watch a movie with Berlin as the backdrop?

During its existence from 1961 to 1989, the Berlin Wall stopped almost all such emigration and separated East Germany from West Germany for more than a quarter of a century. The Wall included guard towers lining large concrete walls circumscribing a wide area (later known as the "death strip") containing anti-vehicle trenches, "fakir beds" and other defenses. After its erection, around 5,000 people attempted to escape circumventing the wall, with estimates of the resulting death toll varying between 98 and 200.

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Goodbye, Lenin! begins amidst the civil unrest in East Germany. We'll get to know Alex Kerner (played by Daniel Brühl), who once dreamed of becoming a Cosmonaut, but now, he has to deal with his mother who just woke up from a long coma. It was during one of their protests, when his mother watched the police arresting him and suffered a heart attack. To protect his mother, Alex decides not to tell her of the new Germany in which they live. He feels he can better protect her at home, where he can control to what she is exposed. He goes on to recreate East Germany in their home. But for how long?

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As Alex Kerner, Daniel Brühl, became one of Germany's most sought-after young actors and up to this day, he remains popular and well-respected in Europe.

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Lorca and the Spanish Civil war

Federico García Lorca was a Spanish poet, dramatist and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblematic member of the Generation of '27. He was murdered at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War by persons likely affiliated with the Nationalist cause. He is thought to be one of the many victims who 'disappeared' and were executed by the Nationalists.In 2008, a Spanish judge opened an investigation of García Lorca's death and his family dropped objections to the excavation of his possible grave.

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The other film, Little Ashes, tells the story of three artists - among them is the assassinated Spanish poet Federico García Lorca (played by Javier Beltran). If you have not heard it yet, Lorca's grave has been discovered and is about to be exhumed. Reports CNN:

The world may soon know for sure where Spanish poet and playwright Federico Garcia Lorca rests after fascists executed him in 1936 during Spain's Civil War. Officials in southern Spain Friday cleared the last legal hurdle to permit exhuming a mass grave site in a village near Granada where Lorca and some other Civil War victims are thought to be buried, CNN partner station CNN+ reported. The area has been fenced off for weeks as scientists conducted preparatory work. Next Monday (October 19) they are due to erect a large tent over the site so that exhumation can be conducted confidentially, said Andalusia regional government justice councilor Begona Alvarez, CNN+ reported from Granada. The potential exhumation of Lorca is part of a broader effort in Spain that already has resulted in various mass graves being dug up and could lead to thousands of other Spaniards still thought to be in mass graves. Many were killed by right-wing forces loyal to General Francisco Franco, who won the three-year long Civil War, which began in 1936. Franco went on to rule Spain with an iron fist until his death in 1975. For years, Lorca descendants have argued that Lorca -- whose poems and plays are widely studied at universities, including his "Poet in New York" -- should not be exhumed, mainly so that he would not be seen as more important than the many other Civil War victims thought to be in nearby mass graves. [ read more ]

Spanish actor Javier Beltran, many observed, has a striking similarity to Lorca. In the movie Little Ashes, which explores the possibility of Lorca and Salvador Dali's intimate relationship, the filmmakers took pains to recreate the atmosphere and look of the times. While the story is fictional and speculative, it is one of the rare films which showcased the fallen Spanish poet.

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What's on your mind? Have you seen Goodbye, Lenin! and/or Little Ashes? Do you like to watch period or historical movies? Let us know what you think!
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