Excellent movie, but supporting characters seemed to be merely sketches.

Rating: 10/10 (20 February 2006)

I first saw Downfall at an art house in Scottsdale. Wanting to be able to see it without the usual American movie accompaniment of gallon buckets of soda and garbage can-sized popcorn, I opted for the early, midday show. To my amazement, the place was packed! Still, to their credit, they were a very quiet and appreciative audience. The movie itself was brilliant, although the supporting cast bore no resemblance to the originals. Joseph Goebbels was small, and was known as the 'Poison Dwarf', but was played by a very tall German actor. Now, to my beef. I'm a writer (2 novels, 1 non-fiction book, many magazine articles), and I'm looking for information on Herman Fegelein, the Waffen-SS general who was married to Gretl Braun, Eva's sister. He was shot in the garden outside the bunker. I'd like to have seen more of this character, especially as he was seen in his apartment getting ready to leave town! Maybe if a 'director's cut' DVD is going to be released, we'll see more of this character.