Downfall (2004)

(Originally released as Der Untergang)

Starring: Bruno Ganz, Alexandra Maria Lara, Corinna Harfouch, Ulrich Matthes, Juliane Köhler, Heino Ferch

First, the Lowdown: It’s Adolf Hitler’s last days in power and the walls are closing in.

Germany 1942. A group of young women are escorted by Nazi soldiers to a remote bunker in the late evening. Once there, they are told to wait a few moments until they are interviewed - by Der Fuhrer himself. All of them are nervous as this interview means that one will be chosen to be Adolf Hitler’s personal secretary. After a brief trial of dictating directly from Hitler’s recitation, he finally selects one woman – Traudl Junge.

Fast forward two years – it is now May of 1945 and Hitler’s birthday. As the Allied army closes in on Berlin from all sides, the leaders of the Nazi cabinet have holed themselves up in the Fuhrerbunker. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union is ever encroaching on the city and the Nazi leaders are realizing that defeat may be more imminent than they originally thought.

The problem with living in a culture prone to jingoism is that it’s all too easy to demonize your enemies. To this day the American public is so incensed by the Al Qaeda-backed 9/11 attacks that they perceive Osama bin Laden as a mindless psychopath instead of seeing the moral outrage at our culture that inspired the assault to begin with. So thusly, it’s difficult to remember that while Adolf Hitler’s actions and personal philosophy were monstrous, he was still a human being with the same frailties.

That’s not to say that Hitler was a likeable character. Bruno Ganz’s portrayal of the falling dictator is nothing short of inspired. Underscoring Hitler’s actions is an unbending philosophy that is so starkly painted, it sees no compromise. As such, when his designs fail because of their own shortcoming, Hitler is quick to blame others’ weakness – perceived or real. Each defeat is treated like a personal attack against him.

The bulk of “Downfall” takes place in an underground bunker, whose closed spaces only make the occupants the more claustrophobic. As the Soviet army closes in on Berlin, so do the walls of Hitler’s sanctuary start closing in on him. And like a caged animal, Hitler vacillates between calm and rage abruptly. No sooner has he praised someone for their unwavering loyalty to National Socialism than he begins lashing out at them for failure to bring about victory.

Two of the more interesting characters in the movie are Joseph Goebbels and his wife. Having taken the Nazi indoctrination so deeply, the idea of being defeated by the Allies horrifies them to their very core. So much so that they would rather die than live in a world without Socialism.

When it was released in Germany, much of the German media decried the idea of making a movie that was so Hitler-centric for fear that it would portray him in a sympathetic light. However, as has been pointed out by a few historians – in Downfall”Hitler frequently states that the German people do not deserve to survive, for it was by their failure to accept National Socialism that exposed their own weakness and thusly inability to survive.

As it is, however, Downfall is an interesting character study and provides a perfect example that while someone can be brutal and monstrous in their deeds, it is their frailties that expose their humanity.

Line of the movie: “I make so many mistakes when I dictate. You’ll never make as many as I do.”

Five stars. Be kind – rewind.

Garden State (2004)

Starring: Zach Braff, Ian Holm, Peter Sarsgaard, Natalie Portman, Armando Riesco, Trisha LaFache

First, the Lowdown: A young man who doesn’t emote finds himself thrust into emotion.

Andrew doesn’t feel much – a nightmare of a crashing plane doesn’t faze him. He wakes to a perfectly blank bedroom that matches his blank expression. When his father calls to tell him that his mother has died, Andrew doesn’t respond. In his bathroom cabinet is an array of prescription drugs that would make Keith Moon envious, and he touches none of them.

Flying home to Jersey from L.A., Andrew still doesn’t know what to do at his mother’s funeral. At the graveyard he runs into two old high school friends who invite him to a party later on. Andrew isn’t sure how to react, but at his mother’s memorial service, he realizes that he has to interact with his father and his extended family, which only convinces him that he needs to see his relatives as little as possible.

At the party, however, Andrew is even more disconnected, but this time he is in company he chooses to be with. The more time he spends reconnecting with old classmates and friends; Andrew gradually begins to allow himself to emote. But like a hidden prodigy he feels sheepish at expressing any emotion, even if it harms no one.

Because Andrew has been suddenly plagued by migraines, he goes to a neurologist and there he meets Sam. Where Andrew is reserved, Sam is frenetic – her conversation is hyperactive and scattershot, and frequently blurs the barrier of truth and falsehood so ably that we oftentimes don’t know when she’s being honest with Andrew. Andrew finds himself drawn toward her as she starts to embody the expressiveness that he craves.

When I found out that Zach Braff was going to be directing a movie, I was pretty skeptical. Braff’s performance in the series “Scrubs” has made him the heir to David Schwimmer’s throne on television. So much like Jim Carrey in Eternal Sunshine On The Spotless Mind I was thankful to find out that Braff is also capable of being understated. As a character Andrew doesn’t know how to act and often finds himself surprised by the actions he takes – so it’s good to see that Braff is equally capable of being just as reserved.

Braff’s skill as a director, however, can be summed up by a single image: Andrew exits his car after parking and sees a dismembered gas spigot still sticking into the tank as a result of forgetting to replace it at the station. There are many ideas that are left kind of unformed, almost as if Braff forgot to get back to them later on. Also at times it feels like he’s trying TOO hard to make the movie “quirky”. (For the prominence of the character of Sam, not much is really known about her.) Even more vexing is the presence of a couple of deleted scenes on the DVD release that would’ve been appropriate in the movie itself, but were left out almost as if Braff feared he was showing off. Then again, it is his first movie at the helm – hopefully he’s making these kind of errors early on to learn from them.

Line of the movie: “It's amazing how much of my life has been determined by a quarter inch piece of plastic.”

Four stars. Remember your sedatives.