Review of Downfall (2004) by Timh. — 18 Jan 2010

Whilst Downfall is undoubtedly a compelling and intriguing telling of the final days of Hitler it is not one without serious flaws. Firstly the good points; the acting is superb with Ganz's in particular standing out for his study of a monster, touched with just the right amount of humanity, swinging between delusion and despair.

This combined with the great care which has been taken in accurately recreating the settings and consumes gives the film and harrowingly real feel. However the film is marred by the script bowing to convention and including a protagonist with whom the audience is supposed to identify in the form of Hitler's Secretary .

.... The film wants us to believe that she was at the heart of events in Hitler's bunker whilst simultaneously suggesting that she was a picture of innocence and ignorance. The scene near the end of the film where she seems shocked by Hitler's statement of revulsion of the Jew's is utterly ridiculous and insulting considering she has been his personal secretary for two and a half years by this point.

The final part of the film which shows a clip from the documentary 'Blind Spot: Hitler's Secretary' where she talks of her apparent shock of finding out about the holocaust through the Nuremburg trials and how she as absolved herself of any wrong doing because she was young and naive (she was 25 at the films conclusion!), which is given to the audience without anything to question it as there is in the original documentary, leaves a very nasty taste in the mouth.

Which is a shame because the portrayal of this one character damages what is otherwise a very enlightening and important film.