Serious Movie making!!!

Rating: 8/10 (21 March 2008)

I have seen quite many WW2 films in the past, yet very few of them managed to amaze and shock me as "Der Untergang" aka "The Downfall" did. Under Oliver Hirschbiegel's excellent direction, we watch the agonizing last hours inside Hitler's bunker, as accounted for by his young secretary Traudl Junge. We watch Hitler, in his peak of his insanity, as he awaits for imaginary troops to save him and his motherland, while his closest associates start to realize that the game is over and begin to desert him en masses. We watch Eva Braun (Juliane Kohler), who amidst the turmoil and destruction, her main preoccupation is to die looking beautiful, so she chooses the poison instead of the bullet.
Few films have dared to touch WW2 objectively from a German point of view; Most of the movies are shot and told from the Allied point of view. But this movie is shot completely from the German point of view.
"The Downfall" tells the story of Fuhrer's final hours, his last critical 12 days in a fortified bunker below the Reich Chancellery in Berlin, while the Soviet Army was slowly taking over Berlin and their artillery bombarding the whole city Based on the book "Inside Hitler's Bunker" by Joachim Fest. "The Downfall" is in a word, shocking. The last act in the great horrific play of the Third Reich plays out like that of a cult so many men and woman who swore allegiance to Hitler commit suicide by either shooting themselves in the head or by ingesting poison capsules. But the madness of Hitler himself is horrifically captivating. He changes his mind and opinion on a whim. One moment he advises his SS-Guards and Generals to leave the city after learning that he does not have enough troops to protect Berlin. A particular one named Gruppenführer Hermann Fegelein , who was Eva Braun's brother-in-law, takes the Fuhrer for his word and leaves Berlin. When Hitler realizes this, he denounces Fegelein and orders him executed. What is more, Hitler discusses the final demise of the German people. He explains that this failure is not only that of the military, but of the civilians themselves. As such, his soldiers do not protect the people from the coming onslaught of the Soviet Army. He advises, "In a war as such there are no civilians."
Hitler is recreated by the superlative performance of Bruno Ganz, who appeared in the 2004 remake of "The Manchurian Candidate." Ganz captures the movement, voice, even the involuntary shaking of Hitler's left hand so well, that the audience would feel as if they are watching the dictator himself. We are often left with shivers down our spine at how realistic Ganz's depiction is.
It is amazing to see how wonderful country like Germany survived to the chaos, destruction and lack of command, arrived from the ashes like Phoenix and sixty years later is again one of the greatest nations. And for those who love war, I really recommend to watch this magnificent anti-war movie, and see the behavior of the leaders and population when a war is lost.
"The Downfall" is an impressive and brilliant piece of film making and ingenuity. The film is completely in German so do not forget to get a DVD which has English sub titles unless of course you are well versed in German.