The Downfall

Bruno Ganz’s performance is sublime.

This is in response to the Kindle customer who gave the film a two-star review for its depiction of Soviets. These were the professional soldiers who fought on the frontlines; they did not engage in raping and pillaging. The echelon units that came after them, however, did. Traudl Junge herself testified that one of the soldiers she encountered (seen in the film) warned her to leave Berlin immediately because of this.

This German film gives a pretty real account on what happened to Hitler's last few days. Hitler's secretary made out of Berlin without a scratch seems to be impossible. However, history does prove it is right. The movie was made in Germany with German actors, actress, not Hollywood movies. The English subtitle is large enough to be read easily. It is a well made film.

you,ll watch it more then once

Having become interested in WWII history after watching Valkyrie a friend recommended that I watch Downfall(DER UNTERGANG). I could not find it locally so I purchased this at . I have the DVD version since the Blu-ray is outrageously priced. That was disappointing since I have developed a passion for the 1080p productions. The DVD version is still a high quality film and the reproduction is very good. Most of the movie is dialogue and takes place inside Hitler's bunker in Berlin so do not expect this to be a cinematography masterpiece. I am not saying that the production is bad, it is just not intended to be beautiful. It is however realistic looking and the gravity of war is evident in the few outside shots that take place.The storyline is taken from historical records including Joachim Fest's book, Inside Hitler's Bunker The Last Days of the Third Reich and BIS ZUR LETZTEN STUNDE by Traudl Junge. The movie follows Hitler's personal secretary (Traudl Junge)through the final days of Hitler's life. Since I enjoy movies based in fact rather than fiction I thoroughly enjoyed watching this from the historical perspective.

good description of what hitler was like in his final days, and it is in german that is even better since i was in germany for 3 years!!

This movie was a fascinating look at the final days of Hitler. The actor who portrayed Hitler was amazing. For all the talk of a perfect Aryan race by Hitler and his cronies, Hitler was an unattractive, sickly short man whose mind and body was obviously affected by the Parkinson's disease that he developed as a consequence of encephalitis that he contracted as a young man. One of things that amazed me most from watching the movie was how much the Germans idolized this puny man, much like a god. Yet, as made clear in the movie, he obviously did not care one whit that his countrymen were dying all around him as a consequence of his ambitions.

The images of evil in this film are unforgettable because of the way they sneak through the ambiguity of compartmented virtue. The movie rates five stars just for the way Hitler's mask of steady fatherly leadership in the bunker erodes into tirades of invective for his subordinates and the German people. His moral veneer reflecting a kindly, dog-loving, vegitarian steward of the Reich gives way to a misanthropic rage. The film illustrates well that Hitler was a pathological incompetent whose appeal to the German mob fed on their bigotry and ignorance as well as on jingoism. But Hitler's megalomaniacal personna is only one aspect of this amazing production. From Magda Goebbels's ineffable cruelty in murdering her children to the routine use of brainwashed kids to resist the tide of the Soviet advance, this film captures the possibility of moral chaos lurking just beneath the manicured surface of a civilization. If anything this film is an affirmation that there is an absolute difference between right and wrong and that there is no substitute for education in making a sane society. We know there are moral shades of gray in the middle, but ignorance should not let that gray confuse us.

An intimate look at the most radical followers of the Reich and their commitment to their Fuhrer to the end. We see those that were driven by faith, love and fear of Hitler. We also get a look at his apparent madness and arrogance. For Eva's character, she is treated lightly, we are to believe that her motives were for love alone and her commitment was unwavering.This movie does not damn Germany, the party, SS or even Hitler. At the beginning, our characters are already damned beyond clemency, we just get to be fly's on the wall to watch the fat lady sing.

Very historic. It shows the cult of personalities around Hitler crumbling. Very psychological movie. Shows a good dichotomy between genuinely evil people and those who simply got wrapped into an evil regime. It demonstrates how evil, and complacency with evil, exists at each strata within society.