Hitler would have been proud roasting in Hell

Rating: 9/10 (21 November 2012)

May be the best WWII movie I have seen after Saving Private Ryan though both of them deals with completely opposite perspectives and different genres. The screen time allocated to the Bunker and its attention to detail virtually transports you there. Seeing Hitler as a delusional old man with a pompous past and a deserted family now rather than the monster we have seen him as so far is surreal. The director evokes mixed feeling for Hitler making you feel for his precarious state while simultaneously loathe the hatred that engulfed him, not just on Jews but mankind itself.
Berlin is surrounded by Allied Forces and Adolf Hitler (Bruno Ganz) and his top brass have secluded themselves into a well furnished Bunker. The story is partially seen through the eyes of his young secretary Traudl Junge (Alexandra Maria Lara). Hitler is delusional about a non-existent army that can push its way from behind and scatter the enemy. While this places courage in some, places horrendous fear in most. Mostly deals with Hitler's final days, his current views on the war and utter disrespect to life, his relationship with Eva Braun (Juliane Köhler) and an ever faithful family, the Goebbels.
While the melodrama is in the air, the director takes care not to push it into the face of the viewer. Alexandra has such a pleasing innocent face, she will almost make you believe how Ms. Junge saw through the ordeal without making out much of it. While most of the cast deliver competent performances, Bruno Ganz would have made Hitler proud with his ecstatic emotional outbursts alternating with subtle body language that speaks a thousand words without saying anything. How he missed the Oscar, I am interested to see who beat him to comment on it. After the Russian artillery comes into the range of the Bunker - every dialogue, emotion and action is associated with fear or being skeptical about optimism which is brilliantly shown when Eva Braun forces a party to overcome the impending doom. While most of the action is said and understood, the director didn't shy away from showing a peek on the outside of Berlin which is full of fear, hordes of corpses and strewn away limbs drawing from a strong graphic content and state-of-art pyrotechnics. The background score is mostly non-existent and but delicately used whenever required. Screenplay and editing are slick without a dull moment and builds up enough suspense leading up to one of the most known endings.
Hitler would have been proud roasting in Hell