DOWNFALL (2004)

Downfall
Directed by Oliver Hirschibiegel
If the war is lost. Then it is of no concern to me if the people perish in it. I still would not shed a single tear for them. Because they did not deserve any better - Adolph Hitler.

Downfall is one of the finest war movies I've ever seen. Filmed in the German language with a German director - the Nazi regime and World War II are certainly the darkest days in German history and this film, depicting the last ten days in Hitler's bunker was a difficult undertaking.

My generation was born after the war but it is our history too and we must deal with it - Director, Oliver Hirschibiegel.

Swiss actor,Bruno Ganz plays Hitler and, although the actor admits to having initial troubles with the character who is seen by history, and rightly so, as one of the most evil men who ever lived. But by approaching the role with the detached air of an actor, after all Hitler didn't believe himself to be evil, he becomes the leader of the Nazi movement. His performance is so intense, so believable that at times the monster that was Hitler almost becomes a figure of pity. After all it is far to0 simplistic to dismiss Hitler merely as a monster - he was that but he could also be a charming charismatic man, someone with such all powerful charisma that he seduced a civilised people towards barbarism.

One of the most harrowing scenes comes late in the movie when Goebbels, realising all is lost, poisons his angelic children. The film is so realistic, so well acted, that the viewer is sucked into the world of the movie and the scene is genuinely painful to watch.

I watched the film twice - once with English subtitles and then again without the subtitles and like all truly great films it drags you into the film. The distance between film and viewer vanishes and you actually feel the emotions as if you are part of the action. This is an excellent film - based on the diaries of Hitler's personal secretary - that depicts events as they must have been.

The Momentum DVD release is a two disc set with a great transfer of the film, even the dark scenes within the bunker are free from digital artefacts. The second disc contains a hour long look at the making of the film, a virtual tour of the bunker and many historical features.

Mesmerising and magnificent, this films should be in the top ten of anyone's list of war movies and the fact that it is presented in the German language makes it all the more authentic. You really need to see this one.

Ian Kershaw, the Guardian's respected film critic said of Downfall:

"Knowing what I did of the bunker story, I found it hard to imagine that anyone (other than the usual neo-Nazi fringe) could possibly find Hitler a sympathetic figure during his bizarre last days. And to presume that it might be somehow dangerous to see him as a human being — well, what does that thought imply about the self-confidence of a stable, liberal democracy ? Hitler was, after all, a human being, even if an especially obnoxious, detestable specimen. We well know that he could be kind and considerate to his secretaries, and with the next breath show cold ruthlessness, dispassionate brutality, in determining the deaths of millions.Of all the screen depictions of the Führer, even by famous actors, such as Alec Guinness or Anthony Hopkins , this is the only one which to me is compelling. Part of this is the voice. Ganz has Hitler's voice to near perfection. It is chillingly authentic."

Once again then - a brilliant powerful and harrowing film.