stunning and unsettling

Rating: 9/10 (19 April 2006)

Bruno Ganz is frighteningly brilliant, but the whole cast really takes you inside the insanity of Hitler's inner circle and makes it all too real. A must-see for students of 20th century European history. Incredible performances from the cast; a script that hews to actual events yet manages to boil down the drama to key moments. If anything the editors didn't leave enough on the cutting room floor but it's still a very tight film. The political courage to make this film also deserves some credit; Germany and the world are well served by a movie that shows the demonic charisma of one man and how so many are susceptible to that kind of power.