The Downfall Offers a Rare Chance to Witness the Collapse of the Nazi Regime

Rating: 9/10 (23 June 2017)

Hollywood loves to depict World War Two. The Second World War has overwhelmingly been the setting of choice for major filmographic depicts of war. But the German film industry, for understandable reasons, has been much more hesitant to produce such films. To be fair, how does a filmmaker depict such a period in human history? How does one do justice to its tragic nature without glorifying the carnage? It isn't easy to depict Adolph Hitler on screen accurately without risking alienating and horrifying a great number of people. Such a task is especially not worth attempting on a budget of only 13.5 million. This fact alone makes the 2004 German film "Der Untergang" an accomplishment worthy of acknowledgement.
The war drama is called "The Downfall" in English and basically depicts the final ten days of Adolf Hitler's Nazi Regime in 1945. The film was directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel and received critical acclaim upon its release. But it is a movie that can still be watched years later. The story is influenced by two books: "Until the Final Hour" by Traudl Junge and "Inside Hitler's Bunker" by Joachim Fest. Traudle Junge was a historical figure who worked as Adolf Hitler's last private secretary until his death. The film is partly based on her personal account of the events that took place before Hitler's suicide.
Traudle was young when she was hired by Hitler to be his secretary in 1942. At the opening of the film, a much older Traudle expresses remorse for admiring Hitler in her youth. A common theme among portrayals of World War Two is that bad things happen to good people. In The Downfall, bad things happen to bad people. The Downfall was a dark and grim movie to watch. The movie is often both absurd and horrifying at the same time. There are times when the movie portrays the solitude and hopelessness of the characters in the film so well that you forget that the characters being portrayed in the film are some of the most ruthless leaders of the 20th century. There is a scene where SS officers and soldiers are getting drunk and partying with topless prostitutes in a bombed out Berlin that is actively being taken over by the invading Soviet army. Everybody knows that they are going to die. Yet nobody, at any point of the movie, can come to terms with the insanity of their situation.
Both the First and Second World Wars can both be summed up as soldiers fighting for politicians who were completely unwilling to fight for them. However, understanding this is one thing. But getting a chance to visually witness the stark contrast between the fates of the soldiers on the losing side to the fates of the politicians on the losing side is quite awakening. There is a scene where Eva Braun, Hitler's future wife dances on a table to celebrate Hitler's birthday even as the venue is getting shelled by artillery fire. Children are dying in Berlin to try to protect them from the invaders. But it isn't until a shell explodes right next to the gathering, shattering the windows of the venue in the process, that the vain attempts at celebrations are brought to a halt. These "leaders" couldn't care less about the Germany people. Half of them even abandon Hitler and his regime before the war is over.
There is a sense of desperation throughout the whole film. But that isn't the most horrific part. Any film that can get an audience member to feel pity for a barbarian like Adolph Hitler is remarkable enough to be worth watching at least once. At his ruined birthday party, against his own commander's advice, Hitler declares, "I will defeat them in Berlin, or face my downfall". He failed, and the rest is history.