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Der Untergang (Downfall) (2004)
An extraordinary film of humanity and monstrosity, Der Untergang is the story of the last days of Hitler and the third Reich. To the film’s credit, the scope is much broader than the downfall of one man: the film continues a good 45 minutes after Hitler’s suicide, showing the effect of the war and the collapse of the Reich on those left to pick up the pieces – secretaries, soldiers, children.
Bruno Ganz gives an astonishing performance as Adolf Hitler, so much so that by the end of the film I had trouble picturing Hitler without picturing Ganz. Hitler ages visibly throughout the course of the film, he becomes frailer, weaker and his physical tics – a shaking hand most noticeably – become more pronounced. The downfall is not merely physical, however, the arrogant pride of a dictator slowly gives way to suicidal resignation.
Downfall is an important film in that it is a German film about German history and in that it shows us Nazis as human beings. This is not to say it in any way makes excuses for the violence of the regime. Nazis were human, and to simply demonise them as the cartoon villains would be to pretend that what happened could not happen again. Here we see those who are brave, cowardly, cruel and caring. They laugh, they cry, they fight, they love. There are those who are in the wrong place in the wrong time, those who have no choice and, yes, those who are downright evil and insane. Into this last category fall Goebbels and his wife, who, in one of the film’s most horrifying sequences, gives sleeping potion to her six children by pretending it is medicine, murders them one by one in their sleep before sitting down and playing a card game.
But it is not only in content and political and historical importance that Der Untergang is a noteworthy film. Stylistically it is also very effective. To watch the film is to be in the bunker or on the streets of Berlin. The sound is essential in creating the mood – the hum of machines, the echo of boots in the corridor. There were also some striking shots, conversations glimpsed through doorways - altogether it is quite mesmerising to watch. There is a pervasive atmosphere of doom, lights flicker, soldiers get drunk, lynch mobs and orphaned child-soldiers roam through the rubble of Berlin. The horror and madness of war are represented convincingly – soldiers of a war already lost line up to receive medals in a busy hospital while their comrades scream and die around them.
The pace of the film may put off less patient movie-goers; at nearly 3 hours long it is not a snappy action flick, despite no lack of explosions and shootings, but it is ideal for creating a sense of realism and showing that the downfall of the title is not so much a dramatic toppling as a slow ‘going under’, as Der Untergang could be more strictly translated.
5/5
An extraordinary film of humanity and monstrosity, Der Untergang is the story of the last days of Hitler and the third Reich. To the film’s credit, the scope is much broader than the downfall of one man: the film continues a good 45 minutes after Hitler’s suicide, showing the effect of the war and the collapse of the Reich on those left to pick up the pieces – secretaries, soldiers, children.
Bruno Ganz gives an astonishing performance as Adolf Hitler, so much so that by the end of the film I had trouble picturing Hitler without picturing Ganz. Hitler ages visibly throughout the course of the film, he becomes frailer, weaker and his physical tics – a shaking hand most noticeably – become more pronounced. The downfall is not merely physical, however, the arrogant pride of a dictator slowly gives way to suicidal resignation.
Downfall is an important film in that it is a German film about German history and in that it shows us Nazis as human beings. This is not to say it in any way makes excuses for the violence of the regime. Nazis were human, and to simply demonise them as the cartoon villains would be to pretend that what happened could not happen again. Here we see those who are brave, cowardly, cruel and caring. They laugh, they cry, they fight, they love. There are those who are in the wrong place in the wrong time, those who have no choice and, yes, those who are downright evil and insane. Into this last category fall Goebbels and his wife, who, in one of the film’s most horrifying sequences, gives sleeping potion to her six children by pretending it is medicine, murders them one by one in their sleep before sitting down and playing a card game.
But it is not only in content and political and historical importance that Der Untergang is a noteworthy film. Stylistically it is also very effective. To watch the film is to be in the bunker or on the streets of Berlin. The sound is essential in creating the mood – the hum of machines, the echo of boots in the corridor. There were also some striking shots, conversations glimpsed through doorways - altogether it is quite mesmerising to watch. There is a pervasive atmosphere of doom, lights flicker, soldiers get drunk, lynch mobs and orphaned child-soldiers roam through the rubble of Berlin. The horror and madness of war are represented convincingly – soldiers of a war already lost line up to receive medals in a busy hospital while their comrades scream and die around them.
The pace of the film may put off less patient movie-goers; at nearly 3 hours long it is not a snappy action flick, despite no lack of explosions and shootings, but it is ideal for creating a sense of realism and showing that the downfall of the title is not so much a dramatic toppling as a slow ‘going under’, as Der Untergang could be more strictly translated.
5/5