Best Film

Rating: 10/10 (19 January 2006)

Der Untergang is the best film to have appeared on screens for the last couple of years. No director, producer, actor, writer or even cinematographer has been able to capture and represent on screen something so powerful for a long time. This film exceeds even the highest expectations as it presents a body of work to teach and exhibit rather than to tell the story of the man that was Adolf Hitler.
Such subject matter has been tried and tested before with mediocre, stereotyping results that serve to condemn Hitler and his followers. Hitler WAS AN EVIL MAN - BUT WHAT THIS FILM DOES UNLIKE OTHERS, IS SHOW BOTH PARTS OF THAT STATEMENT...YES, HE WAS EVIL, BUT- HE WAS ALSO A MAN. Thus, it gives us the monster and the man - never forgiving him or excusing him. It shows us the disturbing truth of madness grappling society.
The film tells us how such atrocities can take place, how his followers were swept up by his charisma and personality (Bruno Ganz as you are probably aware is amazing in this film portraying the fuhrer so well that there is no doubt that he is Hitler), how madness finally outdid itself and how Hitler died.
Not for the faint hearted, Der Untergang is as shockingly brutal as it is mind-blowing beautiful. It paints a terrible beauty that was Berlin with haunting visuals of the underground chambers and mesmerising scenes of fire and chaos. It is both a condemnation and celebration of the human psyche and soul. Through great direction and acting we are shown the most low, horrific and dangerous of human capabilities whilst leaving us with an uplifting message of how life can go on.
THE DOWNFALL OF THE MOVIE'S TITLE IS NOT SO MUCH REFERRING TO HITLER'S BUT THAT OF ALL HUMANKIND. The message of this film is not concerned with the evils of Hitler but the verge of that evil within ourselves. THE BEST FILM I SAW IN CINEMAS IN 2005.