Outstanding Depiction of Hitler's Last Days

Rating: 10/10 (10 August 2009)

Downfall has nothing new to actually say about the last days in Berlin after the war. But while I've read many stories about 'Hitler and Eva committing suicide, the fate of Goebbels' children, Hitler's dog being killed etc'; to see these acts in this faithfully recorded story of the last days in the Bunker, brought home just how terrible those days were to its inhabitants. And while you realize that most of the participants helped bring on these events themselves, you can't still feel something towards them as human beings.
Now, I'm stopping short (very short) of saying this film made me feel sympathetic towards Hitler or the SS members that were caught in the final days (although I did feel that way towards the civilians); and I'm also stopping short of having any of my original feelings change towards Germany's role in killing millions. But this film was unique in that it was generally low key in its depictions, was realistic, and managed to tell a familiar story in a way unlike any other film I've seen about Hitler – and at the same time not portraying the entire German military and other Nazi supporters as cardboard cutout monsters. Not even Magda Goebbels (Corinna Harfounch) is entirely displayed that way (despite her horrific act, and undying loyalty to Hitler).
The acting from all is outstanding – esp the superb performance of Bruno Ganz as Hitler. The whole tone of the film was believable from start to finish. The one negative I could find was that at 155 mins, it might have been a little too long, but I'm not sure what scenes or story lines could have been left out.
All in all simply an outstanding film.