Review of Downfall (1997) by Zach T — 25 Jul 2015

Downfall is very good, but it wasn't great as I expected it to be, especially with all the hype it gets on IMDb. We have a unique look at WWII, seeing it through Hitler's eyes and being more about Hitler losing than the Allies winning as many WWII films do.

I don't know much about the 2005 Oscars from memory, but Bruno Ganz played Hitler so well he should have received an Oscar nomination if he did not. If they can give an Oscar to Marion Cotillard for playing Edith Piaf in a foreign film then they can certainly at least nominate Bruno Ganz for this performance in a foreign film. Hitler's brutality came across clearly with Ganz's various tempter tantrums he had to exhibit, while maintaining the integrity of Hitler as a leader, being a quiet and polite (yet mentally ill) man when all is well, doing what he believes is best for his country in the moment. It may seem weird that I'm practically sympathizing for Hitler, but the film portrays him as a caring individual; it is scary and strange at the same time.

I know the title is "Downfall," so it deals with the OVERALL downfall of Germany in WWII, but there's something not right with killing Hitler 2/3 of the way through the film. I know this film accurately portrays what happened, but there's just something not right having Hitler's death be well before the conclusion of the film. If anything, this was kind of an early climax of the film, with about 40 minutes of falling action/resolution.

While this movie may have made me sympathize for Hitler, it made me sympathize with other Nazi's (or some children) even more since many Nazi soldiers promised Hitler they would commit suicide, and the children of Goebbels are killed in their sleep by their mother - very chilling scene.

Finally, I understand the point of endings of "true stories" where they give you information through text describing how people turned out later, but I'm honestly not going to remember many of the characters/their names, so I'm not going to remember what was said about them at the end of the film either. This is a good character study, but I have seen plenty of better WWII films.