Brilliant in it's entirety. Amazing film.

Rating: 10/10 (29 September 2008)

I'm a huge history buff especially WWII & the German History of the Nazi's rise to power. I've read & studied about Hitler, Goebbels, Goering & especially Albert Speer, who was the only one to say he was "sorry" @ the Nuremberg trials. His books that he wrote "Inside the Third Reich & The Spandau Diaries" are fantastic questionably true portrayals about his life who was the closest thing to that Hitler had as a friend. This film for whatever reason didn't win the Oscar for best Foreign Language Film, but it should have. I have seen this probably a dozen or so times & know the History extremely well & yet this film still has tremendous power every time I see it. The actors are Superb especially Bruno Ganz in a eerily similar manner & look of Hitler. His performance is brilliant & he captures the manic that was within that truly was shown towards the inevitable end. Even if you aren't a fan of History (which is a shame, "those that don't learn from history, are doomed to repeat it", great quote can't remember who said it) this is still a great film in of it self. It doesn't matter if you know the story or not because you will be fully engrossed once you start watching this superbly done film. I wouldn't have been able to appreciate this as much when I was younger *cough* teenager, like I can now, but if you miss out on this film It will be a shame. The fact that most of this film %%80-%90 percent of it is probably true too. This was extensively researched by those involved & the commentary by the director is extremely informative and interesting as well. By far one of the best commentaries I ever heard. He rarely stops talking (in a good way) & always has something interesting to say about the making of the film, the characters, & the basic true stories of those he profiles. A great film in every way which everyone should see. I'm a pretty tough critic so feel free to check my other comments to see where I stand. I don't give 10's very often maybe 1/500 films I see is a 10, so that is saying something, but don't take it from me, figure it out for yourself.