Review of Downfall (2004) by Porter S — 30 Nov 2009

Downfall, or in it?s native German, Der Untergang, is a film about the last 10 days of Hitler's life, and consequently, the Third Reich. The film begins with an excerpt from the documentary Blind Spot: Hitler?s Secretary, where Traudl Junge speaks for about a minute, giving the viewer time to think about the weight of the film they are about to see.

Then, it?s off to Hitler?s East Prussian field headquarters where we see Hitler for the first time. The film fast forwards to April 20th, 1945, as Soviet shells rain down on Berlin. Finally, the film introduces Peter Kranz, a boy of about 12, in the Hitler Youth, who has joined with other children in the defense of Berlin.

The film goes back and forth, from the Führerbunker, to Peter, and around Berlin, to various commanders in the field. The final days are seen, when Joseph Goebbels, the Propaganda Minister and his family move into the bunker, determined to follow the Führer until the end.

The obvious star of this film is the Swiss actor Bruno Ganz, who looks exactly like Adolf Hitler. It is startling, as we peer deeper and deeper into his life. Bruno plays a very different Hitler than what most people are used to.

He is kind to his secretaries; he loves his dog, and enjoys the company of Eva Braun, his mistress. His temper becomes visible, as he screams out his orders to his generals, whom he deems incompetent for not winning the war.

His delusions become more and more apparent, until he realizes the war is lost. Even then, he blames others for being grossly incompetent. Ganz plays a Hitler who has not aged well, and by the end, he has severe tremors, is hunched over, and walks very slowly, with a shuffling gait.

Ganz?s use of language is masterful, as he gets every tiny detail down, from Hitler?s accent, to his violent crescendos and his softest whispers. Ulrich Matthes, who plays Joseph Goebbels, gets the look of Goebbels down to the n-th degree, and even gets Goebbels? speech peculiarities down.

Corinna Harfouch plays the cold, ruthless Magda Goebbels, who wails to Hitler to save himself, then in the same few days, does the ultimate cruel act; she poisons her five children, not wanting them to live in a world without National Socialism.

Alexandra Maria Lara plays the 22-25 year old Traudl, the innocent, naïve, trusting secretary of Hitler. A cute, happy girl, we see a major character change as the movie goes on. The battle scenes are quite well done, and believable.

They depict the hopelessness of the times, and the senselessness and futility of war. The depiction of the agony of the wounded is sure to pull many heartstrings to actually empathize with the Germans for once.

The bizarre interactions between Hitler and his generals and other field commanders is interesting, to say the least. He barks orders, and listens to almost no input. It makes the viewer wonder why he even has generals in the first place.

Downfall is certainly a new classic, and should be mentioned with other great war movies, such as Saving Private Ryan. Of course, some people will not enjoy the German language with English subtitles, but not everyone thinks Saving Private Ryan was great, either.

All in all, this is one of my all-time favorite movies, and I highly recommend it to anybody who likes a good movie.