One of the great modern epics and one of the most haunting films ever made

Rating: 10/10 (21 June 2008)

Downfall is a film not without it's flaws but I feel it is one of the most important films I've ever seen. It is so accurate and so unbiased in it's portrayal of Hitler and the final days of his Reich that we get to see the man behind the monster and the people who have sold their soul to him. Nazis weren't beacons of pure evil, they were human beings and Downfall takes this to heart. I remember the film received some criticism upon it's release for being "sympathetic" to the Third Reich, sympathy is not the emotion Oliver Hirschbiegel is trying to inset in his audience, I felt he wanted them to develop a sense of understanding.
Bruno Ganz is haunting and mesmerizing as Hitler, but the dictator is not the main focus of the film. It is largely an ensemble piece about the fall of Berlin to the Russian army through various perspectives. We see the efforts of an SS Doctor named Ernst Gunther Schneck as he tries to look out for the interests of his fellow Germans and we see that he is most troubled by the SS' indifference to the suffering. There is a very well done subplot about a group of Hitler youth being called into battle because there simply isn't anyone else left. The group of children have been brainwashed and believe that they must fight to the death, and they do despite the pleas of a boy's broken father. To say this is simply a film about Nazi' would be an understatement, it's a film about Germany and the uncertainty of her future.
We have little time to catch our breath as we are thrust into the Bunker where the Fuhrer will sit through the destruction of his empire and have to endure a hellish demise. And go through Hell he will, the fortunes of the war shift dramatically for the worse. Hitler sits in his war room moving troops across it which don't exist anymore. His Generals and followers don't know what to think anymore. Some want to continue to place complete faith in Hitler and some believe it is time to end the war. Hitler himself clings onto the slimmest chances that he can lead Germany to victory. He continues to plan for the building of a new model Berlin and seldom does he show his true intentions or thoughts. Only when his closest followers abandon him does Hitler realize that he has no chance of winning the war. We are unsure of what Hitler wants to hang onto, he makes it very clear that he doesn't care about the citizens of Berlin. He sees them as weak and as traitors to their own cause even though they continue to fight to the last man for him. In many ways the Bunker is a surreal area void of reality. In it's walls, Hitler is still a powerful leader and not a weak old man drained by war. The occupants know their fate but they never admit it or bring it up. Eva Braun plans a huge party with dancing and drinking but it is interrupted by powerless due to the firing of Russian artillery, when the power returns Eva doesn't ask if anyone is all right she orders that the music be put back on. Hitler makes a big deal about his killing himself, he is clear that this is the last and only option. When he parts with his secretaries and staff we see Hitler's trademark theatricality. He doesn't speak to any of his followers except for Magda Goebbels, whom he gives his official seal to praising her as the bravest mother in the Reich. Magda later comes to the realization that she would rather kill her young children rather than let them live in a world without their Uncle Adolf and Aunt Eva and National Socialism.
In the end the influence of the Third Reich only extended from the mind of a madman to a group of uncertain people buried below the rubble.
If Downfall has a main character it is Traudi Junge, Hitler's secretary, played by the beautiful actress Alexandra Maria Lara. This character is the most compelling in the film. She is young and by her own admission she sought a career with the Nazis because she saw an opportunity for advancement. The best scene is when the two central characters are introduced in the beginning of the film, Traudi is applying to be Hitler's secretary. Hitler's introduction into the picture is filmed relatively simply but Ganz' presence is huge and rather Traudi looks like she is looking into the eyes of God. Hitler brings the girl to his office to test her typing skills and he makes small talk about his beloved German Shepard Blondi. Ganz makes him appear like a father figure to the girl, patient and understanding. It is one of the best scenes of the film. The relationship between Traudi and Hitler is handled with utmost care. Traudi is never sure what to think about Hitler, he both repulses and fascinates her. She convinces herself that she sees something past the hate filled rants, she tries to find Hitler's soul. And the audience is brought along on this search. The thought of Hitler having a soul is a tough conundrum to think about, but past the hate,the racism, and the evil was a man who was gentle and understanding with Traudi and who loved his dear old dog Blondi.
Showing Hitler and his Third Reich as humans is the best way to respect the sheer evil of the Holocaust. If we think of Hitler as nothing put pure evil we lessen the tragedy and the enormity of humanity's darkest hour. A human being is capable of error and Downfall is about flawed people who allowed themselves to be taken in by a crazy man and how they and the nation of Germany had to pay for their sins