Downfall
April. 08,2005 RIn April of 1945, Germany stands at the brink of defeat with the Russian Army closing in from the east and the Allied Expeditionary Force attacking from the west. In Berlin, capital of the Third Reich, Adolf Hitler proclaims that Germany will still achieve victory and orders his generals and advisers to fight to the last man. When the end finally does come, and Hitler lies dead by his own hand, what is left of his military must find a way to end the killing that is the Battle of Berlin, and lay down their arms in surrender.
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Fantastic!
It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.
The first must-see film of the year.
A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.
This ultimate meme generator is one great, seriously made movie. Its authenticity is its best asset, as it shows the last days of the fallen German regime as it was. The downfall is of interest to anyone wanting to learn about history, and history is the best teacher of life. The most famous son of Austria is not portrayed entirely as a monster, which is a plus given the authenticity is the goal. But it is the crumbling empire and the atmosphere of utter despair, as the Ruskies come to deliver some well deserved come uponce and tough justice to the country that get a bit over themselves one time too many. NATo and Americans, take note. This is where arrogance and criminality on world stage has ended in history and not once, but EVERY time. Take a good, fresh look what happened to Germany, and then take a good fresh look in the mirror, and perhaps ponder a bit about fate, before making next mindless meme out of some of the many rants of the favorite son of the German nation of the times. Perspective can change, it might take a few well placed bombs from the ever unforgiving Russians, but you can get there eventually.
April 1945. The Allies are marching towards Berlin. Within his hidden, reinforced bunker, Adolf Hitler celebrates his 56th birthday. A few days later he will commit suicide, heralding the end of World War Two. This is the story of those few days, largely based on the memoirs of Traudl Junge, Hitler's personal secretary.A provocative subject, if nothing else. Especially because it takes the bold step to portray Hitler as a human being. A horrible, twisted and utterly racist human being, who has been given way too much power. But a human being, nonetheless. A point of view that is much rarer than you'd think. It's actually a common joke that the first thing you should do with a time machine is to go and prevent Hitler from being born. Yet at the same time it is a widely accepted theory that Germany would have rebelled and started another war even without this one man from Austria-Hungary. Perhaps it would not have been such a large war, and it's quite likely that the Jews would not have suffered so greatly. But Europe would have bled.Still, even this Hitler is very much a caricature . Bruno Granz plays him in a way that to me speaks of wanting to distance himself from the character. His Hitler is a ruin. A stuttering, shaking shell of a man, human only in form. Granted, this has some basis in reality, based on multiple accounts of those final days in the bunker. Still, this Hitler would be a pitiful sight, if he wasn't who he is.And perhaps that's the point. Hitler's evils were horrible and devastating in nature, but they weren't the result of some outside force, cosmic imbalance or anything else like that. We're not given that comfort. Rather they were the result of human nature. Which is a bitter truth to swallow, but a necessary one.An interesting movie and recommended for fans of war and period films. High production values, good acting, tense atmosphere and a subject matter that isn't examined that often.
Incredible film of the last days of Hitler and the people who stayed with him in the bunker as the Communists were closing in. Bruno Ganz's performance was spot on from the books written by/about those closest to him, especially his surviving secretary, Traudl Junge. Mr. Ganz vividly portrayed a manipulative monster, one who is very charming and warm when one-on-one with him, who loved dogs, children, and pretty secretaries, yet had a soul of evil that plotted and implemented the extermination of millions of innocent people and started a war that claimed tens of millions more. Christian Berkel is fascinating as the SS doctor trying to save the lives of as many people as he can from the Communist hoards sweeping in to Berlin. We know how this story ended, but now it was told honestly and factually.
Movie Review: "Der Untergang - Downfall" (2004)The entire picture on one actor's shoulders, here in Bruno Ganz, who portrays the infamous historical figure of Adolf Hitler too such extent that this internationally-acclaimed motion picture directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel, who gets over-powered by producer Bernd Eichinger (1949-2011) to fulfill an honest attempt to recreate the final days of "World-War-2" Berlin-bunker-isolations of leading members of the National-socialist party."Downfall" begins with Hitler personally-recruiting the aftermath-book-writing real-life Traudl Junge (1920-2002), portrayed by innocent convictions-spreading, yet full-collaboration exposingly up-playing actress Alexandra Maria Lara, when emotionally-deep-striving demon confrontation seeking picture means to deliver accurate facts to dramatizing revelations in high peaking ultra-thrilling as devastating conclusions in propaganda ministry family of married with six children get drugged to death in a mid-night cyanide-raid by trauma-given performances ignited by match-making Corinna Harfouch & Ulrich Matthes as Magda & Joseph Goebbels, convincing even Hollywood's Finest that this motion picture prevails as being an important one to be revisited in any cinematic historical event on failing dictatorships.Producer Bernd Eichinger makes sure that in the end every film-making department looks toward utmost excellence in peaks of contemporary German cinema, which just faded since producer's heart-stroking death in Los Angeles, California at age 61 in this clearly-Hollywood-embracing audiovisual striking efforts through the producer's thirty years lasting career in now more globalizing motion picture event movie industries. © 2018 Felix Alexander Dausend (Cinemajesty Entertainments LLC)