Interesting concept, flawed execution

Rating: 6/10 (25 April 2016)

Downfall tells the story of the last days of Hitler (played in the film by Bruno Ganz) in the bunker as Berlin was being attacked by the Russians. Which is an interesting idea for a film, and like most interesting ideas it's also a touchy one. The film follows Hitler and the remaining members of the Third Reich as they try to hold back the Germans, destroy all records of what they were doing, and come to terms with the fact that the Nazi party is over. At the beginning of the film Hitler seems sure that they can still win this, but as time goes on he becomes less and less sure, as the battle moves closer his home. Which makes for a great character study.
Downfall, as I said earlier, is an interesting idea for a film. It's nice to see that a film has has the courage to try and tackle such a difficult subject. The film doesn't try to portray the Nazi's as heroes or villains it just try's to show them as people. Which some people might take issue with, but then again if film is going to grow as an art form then we need to push boundaries and make some people uncomfortable in the process. But even though Downfall has a great premise, it struggles with bringing its vision to the screen.
Before we get into the issues I'd like to begin with what the film gets right, and if there's one thing Oliver Hirschbiegel, the director of Downfall, gets right, it's casting Bruno Ganz to play Adolf Hitler. He steals every single scene he's in, and this might be a backhanded compliment to Bruno Ganz, but it feels like he was born to play Hitler. I mean his performance in Wings of Desire was great, but this is the one that they'll remember him for, and it's a shame he wasn't nominated for best lead actor. Another thing that Downfall does really well, is that it is able to get you to sympathize with Nazis. At one part in the film I felt legitimate sorrow for some of the characters and then I realized, I was sad because bad things were happening to Nazis. Something I never though I would ever feel in my whole life, and since Downfall made me feel that, I would say it deserves to be commended.
But even though Downfall was able to get you to sympathize with Nazis, it still messed some other things up. The biggest problem with Downfall is that it isn't focused. The films main plot is on Hitler in the bunker, all the things he's dealing with, and how he faces his inevitable destruction. And with that center plot, the film tries to build all these different stories and characters that are tied to what's going on with Hitler in the Bunker, and a lot of these are unnecessary and distracting. Another problem I have with all the side characters is a good chunk of the supporting cast is pretty weak. None are terrible but I mean they were unnecessary some were annoying, and I just really didn't care about a whole lot of them. This might seem strange but at some parts Downfall feels like it's trying to imitate Schindler's List. The way in which the horrors of the war are portrayed in Downfall are very similar to way in which the horrors of the holocaust were portrayed in Schindler's List. Maybe it's just me that thinks this, but the way they would have horribly violent actions shot like they were just part of everyday life, felt identical to some parts of Schindler's List. Downfall also has a serious problem with using CGI in some of their battle scenes, it only happens a few times but when it does it ruins the whole scene.
Downfall was well received by audiences and critics alike, and was even nominated for best foreign language film by The Academy Awards. And I had have to say that I recommend Downfall, it's worth seeing just based of the concept of the film alone, even if the execution is lackluster.
6.6/10