Shot with nerve-shredding realism...

Rating: 9/10 (24 January 2006)

Few films have dared to touch WWII objectively from a German point of view; most use the Germans as great villains and Allied forces as great heroes... Movies like "Patton" show brief sights into German military thinking while "The Pianist" finds a good cultured German officer in a nightmare scenario
"Downfall" tells the story of the Führer's final hours, his last critical 12 days in a fortified bunker below the Reich Chancellery, while the Soviet Army was slowly taking over Berlin and their artillery bombarding the whole the city
Mostly through the eyes of his young Bavarian secretary, Traudl Junge (Alexandra Maria Lara) we see the ailing and obviously delusional Führer allowing no negotiation with the Allied forces, raving about how his generals betrayed him, ordering the movement of troops that do not exist, screaming that the German people do not deserve to survive for their apparent treachery and cowardice
But what has come under criticism is the film's attempt at giving Hitlerwhose face has become symbolic for the epitome of evila compassionate side He's "Uncle Hitler" to the children of Josef Goebbles who happily sings for him, so loving for his blonde wife Eva Brown, so kind to his pet dog Blondi, so caring when he awards a young boy (who showed great bravery in the face of the enemy) with a medal and pinches his cheek, and so gentle when he pins a medal on Magda Goebbels for being the 'bravest mother in the Reich'.
It's easy to see why the film was nominated for an Oscar in the Best Foreign Film Category It takes you inside the minds of Hitler's faithful, showing you how it was that one infamous man could be so charismatic and magnetic Although his closest advisors, the remaining dedicated members of the Nazi government, know that there is no hope, no one was seen willing to challenge his orders or attempt to seize power And many opted for suicide after living out their final hours in obscene denial, singing and dancing champagne glass in hand
But Hitler's dark side is also shown when the film depicts his hate and antipathy for the Jews; when one of the more "rational" members of the Nazi hierarchy, Albert Speer (Heino Ferch), stated gently but bluntly to him that the war was lost and he did not follow his orders to destroy the infrastructure in German cities; also when he becomes convinced that Heinrich Himmler (Ulrich Noethen) has betrayed him and must be executed; and when Eva Braun pleads him for her brother-in-law's life, the tormented Hermann Fegelin (Thomas Kretschmann), and he furiously rejected her request
One of the most horrifying sequences that is unforgettable was that of Magda Goebbles played by Corinna Harfouch It is astonishing to witness how an unstoppable steely mother, with no hesitation or remorse, is capable of such atrocities for a blind and irrational loyalty to a 'charming' monster
Ganz's character is equally psychotic and human, capable of shooting even his most loyal followers and utterly believable as Uncle Hitler
Juliane Köhler complements Ganz's exceptional performance with her own chillingly fine one as the ultimate blind follower whose loyalty to her Führer never flagged Köhler shows us how she can be drunkenly carefree dancing to swing as bombs and artillery shake the walls of the bunker one day, and in another day applying a fresh coat of red lipstick to her fleshy lips before she takes one cyanide tablet for the man she preferred not to live without
"Downfall" may be considered powerful and historically significant It is a must for history buffs