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.