Spellbinding

Rating: 9/10 (3 April 2006)

I happened to watch this on my On Demand service and from the beginning I was glued to my television. I had not heard of this movie but I loved Bruno Ganz from Wings of Desire. His performance of Hitler was extraordinary. This was no caricature (such as Anthony Hopkins or Derek Jacobi) but flesh and blood and terrifying, especially at the end. All the acting was first rate but Carinna Harfouch and Ulrich Matthes and the Goebbels were so horrifying that I had to tell myself they were actors at the end. I have never seen two monsters portrayed so realistically. The scene with the children at the end will stay with me always. (And I've read about what they did and seeing it reinforced my unbelief at the inhumanity of these two, not that Hitler and the Germans were any different but this scene just really shocked me.) However, I did find Traudl Junge's innocence at the beginning unbelievable; I cannot believe she didn't know what was happening, especially being up close and right after the war, assuming she really was that stupid, she should have seen the light.
Spoiler for those not having seen this: She took the pills but of course never used it. Her actions at time rang false. I just didn't believe Junge's innocence, not after three years.
But those are small criticisms; the picture was well done and not at all cheap and exploitative. This picture was almost like being there.