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Downfall (2004)
Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel
Cast: Bruno Ganz, Alexandra Maria Lara, Ulrich Matthes
Genre: Biography Drama
Language: German
Premise: The last days of the Third Reich as told by Hitler's 22 year old secretary, Traudl Junge. As Nazi Germany falls, Hitler and his staff are hold up in the Fuhrer Bunker in Berlin, waiting for the advancing Soviet army and the fate that befalls them.
This German made film accurately portrays Hitler's last days on Earth. Unlike Hollywood films that show the Nazi leaders as two dimensional monsters, Downfall shows them as real people who have done monstrous acts. That's an important distinction, as humans are capable of the most vile acts.
Nothing is sugar coated we can clearly see Hitler is insane and he will not listen to reason and doesn't care about human life. He doesn't even care about the lives of the German civilians trapped in Berlin with no food or medicine. We get a feeling of the frustration of those individuals around him who are trapped by his insanity. Those who disobey his orders are executed. We get the feeling that being in the bunker was a nightmare and with the Soviet Army encircling Berlin, escape was not much of an option.
One of the most disturbing scenes are the last moments of Eva Braun and the Goebbels family. Eva is married to Hitler in the bunker. For a honeymoon so gets a vile of poison. I'm not sure the real Eva was so wild eyed as the one in the film, but her fate was the same as shown in Downfall.
The most disturbing scene is of the suicide-murder of the Goebbels family. In the movie, as in real life Mrs Goebbels places cyanide in the mouths of her children. A very sad scene...especially when you know this actually happened.
Downfall was Oscar nominated for 'Best Foreign Language Film of the Year' and won several prestigious awards in Germany. I highly recommend this film.
Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel
Cast: Bruno Ganz, Alexandra Maria Lara, Ulrich Matthes
Genre: Biography Drama
Language: German
Premise: The last days of the Third Reich as told by Hitler's 22 year old secretary, Traudl Junge. As Nazi Germany falls, Hitler and his staff are hold up in the Fuhrer Bunker in Berlin, waiting for the advancing Soviet army and the fate that befalls them.
This German made film accurately portrays Hitler's last days on Earth. Unlike Hollywood films that show the Nazi leaders as two dimensional monsters, Downfall shows them as real people who have done monstrous acts. That's an important distinction, as humans are capable of the most vile acts.
Nothing is sugar coated we can clearly see Hitler is insane and he will not listen to reason and doesn't care about human life. He doesn't even care about the lives of the German civilians trapped in Berlin with no food or medicine. We get a feeling of the frustration of those individuals around him who are trapped by his insanity. Those who disobey his orders are executed. We get the feeling that being in the bunker was a nightmare and with the Soviet Army encircling Berlin, escape was not much of an option.
One of the most disturbing scenes are the last moments of Eva Braun and the Goebbels family. Eva is married to Hitler in the bunker. For a honeymoon so gets a vile of poison. I'm not sure the real Eva was so wild eyed as the one in the film, but her fate was the same as shown in Downfall.
The most disturbing scene is of the suicide-murder of the Goebbels family. In the movie, as in real life Mrs Goebbels places cyanide in the mouths of her children. A very sad scene...especially when you know this actually happened.
Downfall was Oscar nominated for 'Best Foreign Language Film of the Year' and won several prestigious awards in Germany. I highly recommend this film.