Extraordinary chronicle of the demise history's ueber-evildoers

Rating: 10/10 (23 April 2005)

Words fail to capture the power of this documentary-style re-enactment of the last days of Hitler and the coterie of criminals that made up the upper echelons of "The Thousand Year Reich." The performances are phenomenal and marked by a total lack of caricature --straightforward performances suffice to depict the insanity of Nazi criminocracy. The superb cinematography avoids gratuitous violence and gore. In short, this is a film that has to be seen to be believed about times that, unfortunately, cannot be forgotten.
Lead actor Bruno Ganz delivers a seamless interpretation of Hitler's last, deranged moments, as he swung from hysterics to introspection. The photography places the viewer alternately inside the dank and narrow confinements of the bomb-proof bunker in Berlin, and the devastated urban landscape of a once great capital... all metaphors for the illogic carnage delivered by Hitler and company.