Review of Downfall (1997) by Sarah H — 04 Jan 2010

Downfall, starring Bruno Ganz as, rather controversially, Adolf Hitler in a strangely likeable light, is a brilliant retelling of the final twelve days of Hitler's life during the downfall of Nazi Germany, as Hitler, and those around him spend these twelve days in his Berlin bunker during 1945.

Although many consider the way Hitler was portrayed to be much too likeable, Ganz convincingly shows the madness and the beast behind the façade as Hitler slips dangerously into mayhem, whilst his Nazi Germany crumbles around him.

The film also looks into the final days of Joseph Goebbels and his wife Magda Goebbels, along with the horrific way in which Magda Goebbels dispatches their own children, after learning they would not grow up in a Nazi Germany.

This film looks at the madness and fanaticism of many of the higher party members through the eyes of Traudl Junge, Hitler's new secretary, who worked for him from 1942-1945.

Downfall is an interesting film, in that it gives a rare insight into the world behind the way that the Nazi party are portrayed in the history books - it gives a new level of sheer madness and evil to many of the main players in the party, such as the Goebbels, and most of the insanity is warranted to Hitler himself, whilst showing his strange flips in mood when things are not going his way.

Based on Traudl Junge's autobiography, the film's ending, is a fictional and metaphorical device, as there is speculation as what exactly happened to those who did not suffer the maddening fates of Hitler, Eva Braun and the Goebbels.

A definite for anyone interested in compelling war films with a difference, and a fantastic cast.