Factual error: Many of the "western" products used in the film are in packaging from the present day, not from the time the film was set (1989-90). For example, Coca-Cola Light had a white label then, not the silver one in the film. Other examples are Jacobs Krönung coffee and Heinz ketchup, shown in recently redesigned packaging.
Good bye, Lenin! (2003)
Directed by: Wolfgang Becker
Starring: Daniel Bruhl, Florian Lukas, Katrin Sasz, Chulpan Khamatova, Maria Simon
Continuity mistake: When Alex throws the useless GDR money from the rooftop Lara is sitting on the rim, wearing a red t-shirt. When Alex walks over to her and she gets up she's wearing the light-blue jacket she was sitting on. (01:07:35)
Factual error: Alex's mother lies eight weeks in coma. After she wakes up she remains bedridden for weeks (we don't know for how many but that doesn't really matter), first in hospital, then at home. When she sneaks out of bed for the very first time and walks out of the house she does so without any major signs of dizziness - anybody who has spent a few days flat on his back in hospital knows about the difficulties to get vertical again. The problem is not only a mechanical one like weak or stiff legs, something a physiotherapist could help with, but mainly the fact that the heart would not be able to build up enough pressure to supply the brain with sufficient blood. It's absolutely impossible that Christine would be able to get up the way she does after eight weeks not only in bed but in a coma.
Sigmund Jähn: Socialism doesn't mean live behind a Wall. Socialism means reach the others and live with the others.
Denis: Eighth floor?
Alexander Kerner: Yup.
Denis: Elevator?
Alexander Kerner: Broken.
Denis: Shit.
Alexander Kerner: You can say that again.
Alexander Kerner: On the evening of October 7, 1989 several hundred people got together for some evening exercise and marched for the right to go for walks without the Berlin Wall getting in their way.
Question: After Alex finds his father and is driving back home, we see a scene from the hospital, where Lara (or another nurse?) is talking to Alex's mother and telling her that the Berlin Wall collapsed, and that Germany is united. But later, Alex's mother acts like she's unaware of this, and Alex himself also states that she never knew the truth. Why?
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Answer: According to IMDb, Sigmund Jähn gave permission to be featured in the movie, but refused to play himself. It was very difficult to find an actor who looked like Jähn and spoke his typical dialect but after filming had begun, 'Wolfgang Becker' chose a Swiss actor. He was given complex make-up and was dubbed by another actor who came from Jähn's home region, the Vogtland.