Interesting, but emotionally flat

Rating: 6/10 (5 August 2005)

I just saw this on DVD. As a WWII film buff, I found this film interesting from a historical perspective. Certainly the best and most dramatic depiction of the fall of Berlin that I've seen. But as a "movie," I found it lacking. There is no central POV; we're introduced to many characters, some of whom we recognize by sight (Goering and Goebbles have become caricatures over time)while others are unknown and their roles are never really explained. A friend is currently reading a book called HITLER'S INNER CIRCLE. Perhaps if I'd read that before seeing the film I may have had a better understanding of who all the personalities were. Rather than focusing solely on the bunker goings-on this film takes us to the streets of greater Berlin where we see generals making futile last stands and encounter roving bands of vigilantes executing anyone trying to flee the chaos and destruction. While these scenes are interesting, they take us away from the central story, which is Hitler and his main underlings' last stand. I felt drained at the end of this film. Nobody to cheer for, nobody to feel sympathy for. The people depicted were the architects of the greatest mass murder and sheer carnage the world has ever seen so they are unable to generate any emotion in the viewer. The only question I had at the end was why couldn't these psychos, murderers, and criminals have committed suicide a decade earlier?