Der Untergang

Plot synopsis:
The film starts out with a short clip from a documentary where the real life Traudl Junge speaks about how even though she feels like she should be angry with her younger self for becoming Hitlers secretary, it is very hard to forgive herself.The narrative begins in November of 1942. Traudl Junge and four other young women are arriving at Führer's Headquarters Wolf's Lair in Rastenburg, East Prussia. The women are met by Hitler's valet, Heinz Linge. After he gives the women an introduction, Hitler emerges from his office and proceeds to individually ask each woman her name and where she is from. Traudl Junge is the first woman chosen to have her secretarial skills tested and is eventually chosen to be Hitlers personal secretary.The story jumps ahead to April 20th, 1945, Hitler's fifty-sixth birthday. In Berlin, inside the Führerbunker, Traudl Junge is awakened by the bombardment of Soviet artillery from above. A furious Hitler storms out of his office and asks his Generals to inform him where the gunfire is coming from. General Wilhelm Burgdorf informs Hitler that Central Berlin is currently under fire from Soviet artillery, but he doesn't know where its coming from. Burgdorf gives Hitler a phone connected to General Karl Koller who informs Hitler that the artillery battery is only twelve kilometers away. After finding out the Soviets are much closer than he was told, Hitler yells at his Generals for not informing him and that he had to find out this news for himself.Above ground in the Reich Chancellery, many head Nazi figures gather for Hitlers birthday reception. At the party, SS General Hermann Fegelein informs SS General Heinrich Himmler that Hitler is ordering the evacuation of all German military offices by initiating Operation Clausewitz. Himmler says that Hitler will take the whole Reich down if he remains in Berlin. He suggests that Fegelein speak to his sister-in-law, Eva Braun, to see if she can convince Hitler to leave the city. Soon after, Hitler enters the room and is greeted with a salute and "Sieg Heil" from everyone.The film jumps over to the evacuation of the SS Führungshauptamt. It also introduces a parallel story surrounding Professor Dr. Ernst-Günter Schenck, an SS colonel and doctor still in Berlin. Upset by the orders to evacuate, Dr. Schenck argues with SS General Tellermann that because he is both a colonel for the SS and a doctor for the Wehrmacht, he should not be ordered to evacuate so that he can stay to take care of the sick. Tellermann finally agrees and issues Schenck an authorized permit to stay in Berlin.Back in the Reich Chancellery, many of the remaining generals are giving their final goodbyes to Hitler. When Himmler says goodbye, he begs Hitler to leave Berlin and suggests getting in touch with the Western Allies, but Hitler refuses and leaves. As the generals are getting into their cars to evacuate, Himmler tells Fegelein that he thinks Hitler has finally lost it and that since Berlin will fall in the next few days, he is going to have to take it in his own hands. At the same time, Albert Speer arrives at the Reich Chancellery to talk with Hitler.Overlooking a model for the proposed "Welthauptstadt Germania", Hitler praises Speer on his genius for realizing what Germany will become once they win the war. Fegelein and Traudl Junge speak up urging Hitler to leave the city before it is too late, but he refuses again. Speer backs him up by telling Hitler that he must be on stage when the curtain falls.The film cuts away to the streets of Berlin and the civilians trying to leave before the Russians capture the city. Another parallel story is introduced surrounding a boy named Peter Kranz and his small outfit of Hitler Youth soldiers manning a FlaK 88. An older man, who is missing his left arm, walks up to the group of kids and is identified as Peters father. He tells Peter and his fellow soldiers that they are to young to fight and to stop. After several minutes of arguing, the group of soldiers tells Peters father that they will fight until the very end because they swore an oath to The Führer. Peter calls his father a coward and runs away.In his war room, Hitler refuses the plea from General Alfred Jowl to begin the retreat of the 9th Army. Hitler states that General Felix Steiner will be able to counterattack the Russians once his men arrive in Berlin. He also orders SS General Wilhelm Mohnke to defend the city at all costs. Mohnke requests the evacuation of civilians, but Hitler refuses. Outside of the war room, many of the generals express their concern that Hitler is going crazy, stating that he is ordering army divisions that only exist on the map. Hitler makes his way up to the surface to present awards to the Hitler Youth which happens to include Peter. Back in the bunker, Traudl Junge and some of the other girls discuss how they can't abandon Hitler like so many other people are doing.Back in his office, Hitler tells Speer about his scorched earth plan and that he wants to systematically destroy important industrial parts of the city before the allies arrive. Begging for the mercy of the German people, Speer tells him it will only do harm to the future of Germany, but Hitler states that the only German people left are the weak and that they deserve to die.Meanwhile, up in the Reich Chancellery, Eva Braun and many other guests are having a party. Fegelein grabs Eva aside and begs her to convince Hitler to leave, but she refuses. Off to the side, Traudl Junge tells her friend Gerda that the whole situation is unreal and is like a bad dream. The whole party suddenly comes to an end when an artillery shell hits right outside the building, sending debris through the windows. Everyone descends back down into the bunker.Up on the streets, General Helmuth Weidling is being accused for not holding his post and for retreating. Even though he denies the accusations, he is ordered to report to the bunker for execution.Back in the SS Führungshauptamt, Dr. Schenck receives a call from Mohnke ordering him to collect all the medical supplies he can find and to bring them to the bunker.General Weidling arrives at the bunker as he was ordered to, asking why he is to be shot. General Hans Krebs informs him that orders are that any general who retreats is to be shot on spot. After Weildling tells him that he hasn't moved at all, Krebs informs him to speak with Hitler about it.Dr. Schenck arrives at a military hospital to get the requested medical supplies, but it has been abandoned and cleaned out except for dead bodies. Schenck also discovers a group of elderly and sick patients who have been left for dead.Back in the bunker, General Wilhelm Keitel informs General Weidling that his report has impressed Hitler and not only will he no longer be shot, but that he has been promoted to the commander of Berlin's defense. Weidling states that he would rather have been shot. On the other side of the bunker, Fegelein pleads to Traudl and Gerda to leave and informs them that what Hitler has told them about a possible victory is false.In the war room, General Krebs informs Hitler that the Russians have pushed the German lines even further into the city and that General Steiner wasn't able to gather enough soldiers for a counterattack. Hitler orders everyone leave except Keitel, Jodl, Krebs and Burgdorf. Hitler yells at them for disobeying a direct order and that his entire military has been lying to him. Hitler states all of his generals are cowards and traitors and that because of their incompetence, they have lost him the war. Hitler leaves the war room and tells Traudl that she can leave if she wants, but she refuses to. The rest of the remaining generals argue over what to do now that Hitler has given up.Eva, Gerda and Traudl talk a walk just outside the entrance of the bunker to grab a smoke. Eva talks about how she hates Adolf's German Shepard, Blondi, and abuses the dog whenever Hitler is not around. Bombs start to fall again and they retreat inside the bunker.On his way back to the bunker with medical supplies, Dr. Schenck runs into a group of soldiers about to execute a small group of old men for not helping defend the city. Schenck pleads to the soldiers to spare the old mens' lives, but they are shot anyway. Schenck leaves and finally arrives at the bunker with the supplies and is shocked to see how many wounded civilians are there.Meanwhile, Joseph Goebbels' wife and six children arrive at the bunker to stay with him under the care of Traudl. The Goebbels children dress up and present a song to Hitler. After the children leave, Hitler discusses the best ways to commit suicide with Eva, Gerda and Traudl, giving them each a cyanide capsule.Now April 23rd, Eva and Mrs. Goebbels each write letters to their families informing them that the war is almost over and that they plan on staying with Hitler until the end. Meanwhile, Hitler orders General Keitel to link up with Admiral Karl Dönitz to capture more oilfields for offensive maneuvers once they push back the Russians.Hitler receives a message from Hermann Göring stating that he wishes to take command of the Third Reich since Hitler can no longer do anything from Berlin. After declaring Göring a failure and a traitor, he orders him to be executed. Meanwhile, Albert Speer arrives at the bunker and pleads with Traudl and Mrs. Goebbels to reconsider staying with Hitler.Speer meets with Hitler to say his goodbyes. He also begs that Hitler spare the German people and not take everyone down with him, but once again, Hitler refuses. Speer then informs Hitler that he has personally ignored and even defied many of his orders for some time. Upset, Hitler rejects a handshake and tells Speer to leave.Peter, who has left his unit and been fleeing from the approaching Russians, is able to make it to his home to find his father and mother waiting for him.During dinner, Hitler appoints General von Greim as the Commander in Chief of the Air Force with order to reorganize and correct the mistakes that have been made. He tells von Greim that he must be ruthless because compassion is for the weak and a betrayal of natural selection. During this dinner, Hitler receives a report that Himmler has offered Germany's surrender to the western allies. Upset that his most loyal general has betrayed him, Hitler orders Himmler to be executed and for Fegelein to report to the bunker to be promoted in place of Himmler.Hitler has a meeting with General Ernst-Robert Grawitz who is requesting to leave Berlin so that he and his family can escape, but is denied. After Grawitz is dismissed, Otto Günsche informs Hitler that Fegelein has left the bunker and cannot be found, upsetting Hitler even more. Meanwhile, at home, Grawitz kills himself along with his entire family and Fegelein is executed for treason once he is found.Back in the war room, Hitler is informed that the Russians have advanced even further and that Berlin no longer has any air support, stopping any more supplies from reaching the remaining army. However, Hitler still has hope that General Walther Wenck will be able to rescue Berlin. After Hitler leaves the room, the remaining generals discuss that Wenck lacks the manpower to do anything to the Russians, but they cannot surrender.Traudl Junge then reports to Hitler so that she can write his last will. Hitler states that since WWI, all of his thoughts and actions have been dictated by his love and loyalty to the German people. As Traudl is typing it up, Goebbels informs her that Hitler has ordered him to leave Berlin, but he cannot do it and will need her to write up his will too. Meanwhile, Hitler then has a small ceremony where he marries Eva.Later on, Hitler is informed that neither General Wenck nor any other army division will be able to rescue Berlin. Hitler tells them that he cannot surrender and that neither can any of his generals. Hitler informs Otto Günsche that he and Eva will commit suicide and that he is to make sure that the Russians will never be able to find his body.Dr. Schenck and Dr. Werner Haase are ordered to the bunker where Haase gives Hitler instructions on how to commit suicide. Meanwhile, Dr. Schenck is forced to wait with a bunch of drunken soldiers who have given up any hope of victory, but later witnesses Hitler giving Blondi a cyanide capsule.Meanwhile, Eva and Traudl talk about the approaching end. Eva gives Traudl one of her best fur coats and makes her promise to try and make it out of the bunker alive. Hitler then has his last meal with Traudl and a few others, and then informs them that the time has come. He gathers around Traudl and his remaining friends, including the Goebbels, to wish them goodbye. Mrs. Goebbels attempts one last time to convince Hitler to leave Berlin, but he refuses, stating that millions of people will curse him tomorrow. Hitler and Eva retire to their room and commit suicide. Otto Günsche then informs the remaining generals that Hitler is indeed dead and his and Eva's bodies are carried to the surface where they are doused with gasoline and burned.General Krebs has a meeting with the Russian generals informing them that Hitler is dead and that Germany will not accept unconditional surrender. However, the Russian generals tell him that they must.Later on, Mrs. Goebbels gives all of her children a sedative and poisons them while they are asleep. She and her husband commit suicide not long after, along with Generals Krebs and Burgdorf. General Weidling orders the Germany Army to cease fire. Traudl Junge, along with a few other women, is able to make it out of the bunker dressed as soldiers. Dr. Schenck informs the women that they don't have to be taken prisoner because the Russians aren't looking for them. Traudl is joined by Peter, who is now orphaned after his parents committed suicide, and the two of them are able to pass through the Russian army.Some of the remaining SS soldiers, along with Dr. Schenck, are hiding from the Russians in a building. When they finally hear the news that Germany has officially surrender, the majority of them commit suicide in order to remain loyal to Hitler, but Dr. Schenck is able to make it out of there alive.After getting through the Russians, Traudl and Peter find a bicycle and escape from Berlin.The film ends by revealing the fates of each individual after the war. The last clip is the real life Traudl Junge talking about how even though she wasn't aware of the extent of the concentration and extermination camps until after the war, she still feels like being young isn't an excuse and that it would have been possible for her to find things out.
Prof. Ernst-Günther Schenck was played ny Christian Berkel who will later display Fritz Shimon Haber in Haber.

Tags: boring, murder, bleak, dramatic, violence, flashback, insanity, historical

Review:
The movie balances well between large-scale effects of bombs exploding in ruined streets and depictions of different persons going though the experience  from Hitler and his staff in the well-protected bunkers to the principal military commanders torn between reason and loyalty and German civilians trapped in an inferno.
I have never seen a film picturing the insanity of Hitler in his very last days in a bunker in Berlin with his high command, and how the German people were hypnotized by him like in this film.
It is difficult to highlight one actor or actress in this constellation of stars, but I was impressed with the performance of Bruno Ganz and his "human" Hitler, totally different from the stereotypes usual in other movies.
The cinematography and the battles are stunning, and the scenario of Berlin completely destroyed recalled the neo-realistic movie of Roberto Rossellini "Germania Anno Zero".For those who know Germany and German people, it is amazing to see how this wonderful country survived to the chaos, destruction and lack of command, arrived from the ashes like Phoenix and sixty years later is again one of the greatest nations.
Not since perhaps Rod Steiger's portrayal of Benito Mussolini in Moustapha Akkad's LION OF THE DESERT (1980) have I seen a notorious dictator more realistically acted than Bruno Ganz's stunning display as "Der Fuerer" in The Downfall (2004).Sitting amongst a full-house of patrons here at the Toronto Int'l Film Festival's 2004 edition, Ganz captivated the local audience with the scariest Hitler I've ever seen up on the silver screen -- better than Noah Taylor's English Hitler in MAX just a couple of years back.Audience members get a glimpse into the final days of Hitler's rule from the bunker deep beneath the Reich Chancellery in Nazi Berlin's dying days.
Bravo to director Oliver Hirschbiegel for doing this the right (German) way -- for intrepidly tackling a period piece few German producers might.I'd had a chance to chat with the actors post-screening, with lead actress Alexandra Maria Lara (playing Traudl Junge) candidly admitting the sheer amount of work she'd diligently invested in bringing her character to life -- doubtless complicated by the death of Frau Junge in 2002.
The director, Oliver Hirshbiegel, working with a big cast, brings to life the madness of the last days of the monster, as observed by a young and impressionable secretary who witnessed most of the crisis.At the beginning of the film we watch as five young women are brought to be interviewed by Hitler for a job as his personal secretary.
We watch a man at the beginning of the film that is still thinking he is in command of the German forces, but his authority has eroded, as it becomes clear to the people under him the war is lost and it will be a matter of time before they are defeated.We watch the life of privilege the higher ups led inside the bunker.
Somehow, every scene is dripping with underlying tension that never really explodes; a kind of unsettling unbelieved grips you when you see seemingly ordinary people commit astonishing atrocities and sins towards mankind, just for their faith and loyalty to one man, Hitler, who himself walks the edge of reason.Great movie : 10/10 without a doubt..
Interviewed while the film was in the making, Eichinger explained that he would portray Hitler "as a man, as a human" ("wie ein Mensch.") This was revolutionary in cinema, where renditions of the Nazi leader havepre-Eichingerstill not gone far beyond the "evil-dictator" approach.
From a historian's perspective, everything is wrong with that approach, and Eichinger had the courage to transcend it for the broad public.The first two decades of post-World War II historians pretty much demonized Hitler, as did all movies before "Der Untergang." This was understandable, at the time.
The film is very realistic, and an excellent ensemble cast breathe life and believability into the roles of the various members of the Nazi party and because every performance is picture perfect, the whole thing comes together brilliantly as one whole piece.
It is a very intense movie about the final days of Adolf Hitler (a SUPERB roll played by Bruno Ganz, he should get at least one Oscar for this...) which had me coming back to see the movie a second and even a third time (I saw T3 only twice, he he).
It was amazing, it was great, it was jaw-dropping...The main criticism that many people had on this movie was that Hitler and the other Nazi party members looked too human.
The makers of this movie never intended to make him look like a nice or a bad man, they intended to show him the way he really was and they did an amazing job.I've seen many documentaries about Hitler and read a lot of books about the man, so I think I can say I know quite well how he acted and reacted.
They all must have studied there characters for many hours, because they were all excellent.As the horror and reality of the movie have only just ended and burned themselves on your retina for the rest of your life (By the end of the movie, you'll have seen many officers commit suicide, Hitler and Eva Brown being burned behind the bunker, the Goebbels murdering their children, people being hanged on a lantern for stupid reasons, young children dying as they try to defend Berlin...), you think you've had it all, but than the real Traudl Junge gives away a last testimony, looking back on her life with Hitler ...
This is an important film and absolutely a must for anyone who has ever pondered how WWII, the Holocaust and all that was at all possible.Der Untergang has sometimes been criticized for making Hitler and the Nazis look sympathetic and human.
The film shows these often horrifying moments and realisations in all to realistic detail.Ultimately, Downfall shows the human and personal element of the end of the war for Hitler and the Nazis.
The film deals with the history of Hitler's last days in underground bunker , it's the true story of the historic downfall and death (at age 55 in 1945) of the infamous Nazi dictator's culprit of death of 50 million people during second war world and killing of 6 million Jewish in concentration camps .
I don't believe anything in the film suggests that its creators sympathize with the Nazi regime and those who had orchestrated it.Showing Hitler as a human being (amazing performance by Bruno Ganz), a man who loved his dog, was a vegetarian and could display some moments of tenderness did not undermine the overall image of a lonely, domineering, conscienceless, and hateful man who believed that his people, his compatriots, women and children deserve to die because they are no longer deserve to live and because "in a war as such there are no civilians".Did those who think that that the film "humanized" Hitler forget the most chilling scene in the movie, the one that shows Frau Goebbels crush the ampoules with cyanide between her children's teeth, after they had been dosed with a sleeping draught?
But I am convinced that he was totally of sound mind until the very end, which is why leadership never slipped from his hands." The film's director Oliver Hirschbiege says that, in the same way it was evil of Hitler to see Jews as less than human beings - i.e. as "insects" - it would be equally wrong to portray Hitler as a madman, because that would excuse him of culpability: "I think the biggest mistake is to have an image of Hitler as insane - that he was not a human being but a monster.
It is 1943 when director Oliver Hirschbiegel's film about the last tormented days of Adolph Hitler begins, and that voice belongs to the real Traudl Junge (played here by Alexandra Maria Lara), one of several young women smuggled into the Führer's headquarters in East Prussia to interview for a position as his private secretary.
The German military has suffered severe losses, Berlin is under artillery attack by the advancing Russians, the great experiment in National Socialism is crumbling like the city, and Hitler (Bruno Ganz) and his key commandants have retreated to the leader's private bunker.
When Hitler is told that "fifteen to twenty thousand" of those young men were lost in an effort to fight off the Russians, his heartlessly-spewed response is: "that's what they're for." But he will go out onto the street during a lull in the shelling to honor youngsters as heroes who "history will take note of," and pinch the cheek of one particularly innocent- looking lad.The bipolarity of a man who himself has gone down in history as one of its greatest monsters is at the heart of "Downfall," the screenplay (by Bernd Eichinger) for which is based on historian Joachim Fest's book (The Downfall: Inside Hitler's Bunker, The Last Days of the Third Reich) and on the memoir of the real Traudl Junge (Until the Final Hour: Hitler's Last Secretary).
I'm at a loss for words.First of all, this project which took two years of director Oliver Hirschbiegel's life was an incredibly brave thing to tackle, seeing as there hasn't been a film chronicling Hitlers last days for 30+ years.The attention to detail is there to see as well and as far as I can tell, is factually as accurate as it possibly can be.
Some of the scenes such as his various rants at his officers and generals, where Speer tells him of his betrayals had me in awe of this mans performance.There were some incredibly shocking scenes also like where the German officer kills his family for not being able to leave Berlin.Akin to 'The Pianist' this is simple, but honest film-making at it's best, which demands the utmost from cast and crew in order to succeed, typified by the final scene with the Goebbels children and the Goebbels themselves.
It's one of the few films where the acting is truly compelling I heard a lot of controversy about DER UNTERGANG as soon as Bruno Ganz had been cast and together with director Oliver Hirschbiegel they both decided to make a film where every minor detail about Hitler's last days should be totally accurate .
I have to say,Downfall was probably the best movies I have ever seen.Not only did the movie focus on the last days of Hitler,but also the last days of the third Reich.Seeing it through the eyes of one of Hitler's personal secretaries,Traudi Junge,gave me a clearer image of Nazi Germany's downfall.This is one of the very few movies I have seen that I believed I wasn't watching actors on the screen.It was SO real.You see how the members of the bunker have doubts and know they're not going to win.Bruno Ganz as the famous dictator was pure magic on the screen.He was like Hitler reincarnated for the screen.Like no other movie before,I can still remember the scenes vividly.The scenes just stay in my head,so much that i can probably watch the movie in my head.Another thing that made the movie real was the accuracy.Like previous movies about Hitler,they most likely "twist the plot" so it can appeal to a large audience.But this movie,they stayed close to the actual story as much as possible.The creators really did their homework on the accuracy thing.I was impressed Hitler wasn't really the main character,because not only do we see his side of the story,but for the first time ever,they show the other members side as well.We see a more definitive take on the whole regime.I would recommend this movie to anyone interested in the last days of Nazi Germany.Der Untergang is cinema at it's best..
This film, which tells the story of the last few days of World War II in Europe, largely seen from the perspective of Hitler and members of his inner circle as the victorious Russian army approaches the gates of Berlin, avoids that concept and tries to show us Hitler the man rather than Hitler the devil.
Hitler, the most odious figure in History, is portrayed not in a sympathetic way but as he was: a man, persuaded that he was doing the right thing; with painstaking realism, and aided by one of the most riveting performances ever, the film shows us that there is a monster inside every one of us, living side by side with more gentle traits.
For those unfamiliar with the film, Downfall portrays the last two weeks of the Nazi government flitting from the bunker beneath the Chancellery to the civilian bomb shelters to the embattled streets of the ruined capital.It's astonishing achievement is to put a human face to some of the most infamous figures in history; it strips away the stereotypes and hyperbole and absurd dramatics to let you see the people behind the caricatures without diminishing the horrors they wrought.
"Downfall" is a fascinating and compelling look at the mindset of the German people at the end of WWII, inspired mostly by the firsthand account of one of Hitler's secretaries who survived the madness that was his bunker in those last days.
Here we have an excellent performance from Bruno Ganz as Adolph Hitler, who shows the man's insanity, inhumanity, and his cunning way with people in his intimate circle that allowed him to seduce those around him and the German population at large.
Likewise, we get a searing performance from Julian Kohler (a fantastic actress best known for her lead in "Nowhere in Africa") as Eva Braun, representing perfectly the German elite seduced by the promises of a Utopian Third Reich, and who are in utter and complete denial of the horrors around them right up to the last minute as everything they fought for comes spiraling down into their own self-made hell.One of the few flaws of the film is that it can't decide at times whether to be a straightforward docu-drama (there are often too many of Hitler's inner circle to keep track of) or a soaring WWII epic (there's some compelling subplots revolving around Hitler's youth movement added for dramatic effect).
Still most people do not like to see human suffering even to those who may, by all that is right, have it coming; and so it was essentially a depressing experience to watch this film.Alexandria Maria Lara, who played Hitler's last personal secretary, Traudl Junge, provided the only bright spot in this necessarily grim picture.
A important film for discover the image of a time without shadows of propaganda or preconceptions.A important film for see Hitler not like supreme monster but like small man at end of ambition.A important film for explore of different faces of reality, for understand the personal truth like ordinary form of self-protection.A film about the corpse of an ambiguous era, about the shards of a lie, about death and duty, about closed worlds and anatomy of fear, about fake myths and foolish hope, about sense of life and signification of final gestures.It is a movie, a splendid movie about fall of Nazi regime.
I saw the movie last week in an overcrowded cinema and was surprised about the outstanding actors (Bruno Ganz and Corinna Harfouch) , the perfect screenplay (Bernd Eichinger) and the work of director Oliver Hirschbiegel.What happened on the screen gave the closest insight into the darkest part of German history and the darkest corners of human nature.The movie shows the human being Hitler as that monster and mad man he was.
Some however are continuing to display courage in valiantly defending the city and show continuously hopeless resistance in the face of the advancing red army (1st Belarussian army)bought on by years of Nazi propaganda.The film magnificently achieves to bring to screen the combination of Traudi Junges ( Hitlers private secretary) memoirs, Nazi officials memoirs, German war archives and the documentary "blind spot" to a conclusion on screen.Bruno Ganz brings the fuhrer to life in his exceptionally good performance.
For Germans to confront their past this way is nothing short of breath taking.The actors were great, and the performance by Ganz as Hitler is one of the most unnerving things I have ever seen committed to film.
I have never seen a more gripping saga in my life, absolutely stunning.Every performance from every actor, from the incredible Bruno Ganz, down to the young children playing the Goebbels children, was immaculate.Even now, several weeks after I first saw it, I have vivid memories of scenes from the film, not just the graphic harrowing scenes which I think will always remain with me, but the conversations, the one between Hitler and Speer springs to mind.
In Oliver Hirschbiegel's "Downfall", we follow young secretary Traudi Junge (Alexandra Maria Lara) into Hitler's bunker and witness the final days of the Third Reich through her increasingly disillusioned eyes.Finally, Germany gives us a film on the matter, and, rather unsurprisingly, it feels far more authentic that any other take on the subject.
I have seen the movie today and I must say, it is the most impressive German movie since "The boat".Hitler, Goebbels with his wife Magda, the generals Keitel and Jodl and the other leading Nazis are surrounded in Berlin by Russian troops a few days before the end of the war in europe.
This is a brilliant film about the final hours of Hitler, his foot soldiers and the people who worked and lived around him in his bunker.Unlike most war films this is a German made movie with German actors and this gives this so much more authenticity.
Exhibiting relentless realism & exceptional accuracy on-screen, Downfall (also known as Der Untergang) recreates the events surrounding the final days of German dictator Adolf Hitler's life in the Führerbunker while also depicting the fall of the Third Reich & Berlin during World War II.