Uncompromising, unflinching, unflattering, unforgettable!

Rating: 10/10 (14 October 2014)

Downfall tells the story of Hitler's last days through the eyes of a real person - his secretary; a young girl plucked from obscurity. This film sends such a powerful message to the future, it's difficult to describe.
It's said that those who forget the mistakes of the past are doomed to repeat them and yet, we are faced with new fascists like Hitler almost everyday.
As others have noted, this is based on historical fact, and while being German production, it views history through the eyes of a historian - and not the usual, rose-tinted criticism that could be levelled at many other historical re-tellings.
Without doubt, this is one of the most powerful anti-war films that has ever been made; or perhaps, even could be made. Exposing the brutality of war; and the unlikely compassion of a man the world has rightly come to despise.
It's a visual treat with Hitler's role never excused or forgiven; a portrait of a man crazed with psychopathic tendencies and yet, apparently capable of warm emotion: which makes him all the more real and all the more terrifying. It's left an uncomfortable impression on me; I feel simultaneously sick and awed at the same time.
Politicians and political pundits should be made to watch this over and over until it sinks in. War is not the answer!
10/10