A stunning portrayal of evil and defeat.

Rating: 9/10 (29 July 2007)

There are I think 4 films about the last days of Hitler, of which this is the latest. The others are : The Death of Adolph Hitler Frank Finlay January 1973 UK TV 107 mins. Hitler : The Last Ten Days Alec Guinness May 1973 108 mins. The Bunker Anthony Hopkins January 1981 USA TV 150 mins.
Which is the best ? Each has its own undoubted merits. I have recently viewed all of them again. All are riveting. All these films make for uncomfortable viewing. It should not be otherwise. The knowledge that these are in essence accounts of real events makes it so. All make attempts to be as accurate as the data to hand at the time allowed. Downfall is almost certainly the best all round and probably the most authentic account, despite the fact that I have an inbuilt dislike of watching subtitled films! (My German is not good enough to follow it without the subtitles). Of course, being German dialogue does give it added verisimilitude. Ganz is quite superb. Listening to the Director's commentary (on a separate audio track on the DVD  in English, thank goodness!) it is clear that the entire company had thought the whole film through thoroughly and used whatever they could in the way of documents and accounts to make it as accurate as possible  not just the events themselves, but the character of each of the players. The most horrifying and gripping scene in Downfall is not the sick rages of the demented maniac  made all the more effective by showing other sides of Hitler's personality  but the scene where Magda Goebbels kills her own children. Somehow, this awful act summarises the terrible regime that was allowed to infect the earth for 12 years. Sterling performances by all concerned.