Review of Downfall (1997) by Brad B — 02 Aug 2010

Hollywood wishes they could make movies like this one. I'm not going to get on the fence and bash Adolf Hitler for what he did, as we all know what happened from history class, but I've seen pretty much the best version put on film. Bruno Ganz, the man who played Hitler, took a huge risk portraying pure evil and got rave reviews all around the world and several nominations for Best Actor. I like that they showed a "human side" to Hitler. Even though he truly is pure evil, there comes a point where the shell must be broken and this film shows it.

This film details the final days of Hitler's life and the eminent collapse of the Third Reich as the Russians are about to enter Berlin as told through the eyes of Hitler's secretary. Hitler, his wife and his highest ranking and trusted officers occupy an underground bunker as they try to rebuild the Nazi empire but soon realize their days are numbered.

This is a film that would never get approved in America as they tend to show the Allies being the main characters. This also displays several images of war violence and children dying. One scene has a Nazi mother killing her own children by feeding them poison while they sleep then commits suicide herself with her Nazi officer husband. If this were an American production the scene would've been cut out and take away the impact of what war is really like.

I've seen a lot of WWII films (Das Boot, Stalingrad, The Great Escape) but this one is my personal favorite out of all of them. Unlike Rikidozan, this is easy to get. I recommend it every time.