Riveting, beautiful, powerful...

Rating: 9/10 (31 October 2008)

DER UNTERGANG has to be one of the best WWII movies ever made, and it is unfortunate that it will not receive as many accolades as it should due to its international origin, limited release, and somewhat controversial subject manner.
The film is the third of its kind to account Adolf Hitler's last 10 days in Berlin before his death (I highly doubt that this qualifies as a spoiler), and though I have not seen the previous two, I have no doubt that DER UNTERGANG is the best of the three, otherwise I surely would have heard more of those other movies.
I was informed that Der Fuhrer was presented in a rather sympathetic way in this film, which was the cause of some controversy, but upon viewing I can say that nothing can be further from the truth. Bruno Ganz presents Hitler as a vile, pathetic (not sympathetic), angry, short-tempered, megalomaniacal, bitter individual whose primary beliefs are a perversion of the theory of Natural Selection: that the weak must be left to perish while the strong survive, and any assisting of the weak (and hence Humanity in general) goes against Nature. Ganz's performance is captivating, and he steals every scene in which he appears, which is no surprise given his role. His presentation of Hitler is quite easily the best ever seen in cinematic history, and he owed a lot of his preparation to listening to previously hidden recordings of Hitler in his final days, as well as studying Parkinson's disease patients.
The cast, while mostly unknown outside Germany, does incredibly well, and there is no scene in which any cast member seems to falter to weaken the movie. While the film is primarily about Hitler, director Oliver Hirschbiegel has no hesitancies in broadening the scope of the film (quite effectively) to include 'bit-players', while still managing to keep the primary focus at the forefront of the viewer's thoughts. The one scene in which Hitler manages to escape the thoughts of the viewers is the bone-chilling and shocking scene coming down to the end involving a mother and her children. It is a scene that is difficult to stomach due to its subject matter and accurate portrayal; one that serves to highlight how dangerous such blind loyalties can become.
The film is as historically accurate as it is beautiful. I am an avid fan of good WWII flicks, and I have to say, in terms of presentation and historical accuracy, DER UNTERGANG has to rank as one of the finest. It is an awesome character study of one of the most malevolent beings in modern history, one that makes today's terrorists and super-villains seem like naughty children who lost their playthings. This is a truly riveting and well-crafted piece of cinema, whose subject matter is treated exceedingly well.
4 stars (out of 4). 9/10. Should enter my Top 100 at about 62 or so. Unreservedly recommended.