Downfall Reviews

Fascinating, but overly long ...

Bruno Ganz pulls off an unbelievably realistic and gripping portrayal of Adolf Hitler, and his final years as leader of Nazi Germany. Set in an underground bunker in Berlin, Downfall tells the story of the events which followed the Soviet onslought on the city, and the reaction of Hitler and his fellow Nazi officers to the impending collapse of their city. Some horrifying moments make the audience sit up and pay attention, but I found Downfall slightly dragging at times, and a distinct lack of a protagonist (excluding Hitler's secretary Traudl, who is caught in the middle of the terrible occurences), meant there were moments when I wished the Soviet soldiers would hurry up and kill them. Overall though, definately worth a watching solely because of Ganz's portrayal of Hitler, and an insight into the few defining moments which led to the collapse of one of history's greatest evils.

A brilliant film that tells the story from inside the Bunker where Hitler and his close confidents spent the last days of the war and in some cases their lives

I am a history student who studies the third reich and its downfall. This film is based on first hand accounts of what happened inside Hitlers bunker in the last week of Hitlers life and the way in which the Nazi state was rapidly desintergrating. The fact that this film was made by a German film company and had a German cast and crew, really says a lot about how the country is eventually coming to terms with those twelve years of Nazi rule.

This film is a modern classic and will certainly be in my collection the day it comes out.

Downfall is well worth a watch (even if you dont like subtitles). The vocal and physical resemblance of several key Ministers and members of the Nazi party being portrayed are quite haunting and the film is led by a fantastic cast consisting of - Bruno Ganz, Alexandra Maria Lara, Juliane Köhler, Heino Ferch as well as Ulrich Matthes and Corinna Harfouch playing Josef and Magda Goebbels respectively.

The film displays the politics and infighting within the bunker during these last days, it also displays Hitlers ruthless beliefs in Darwinism and the survival of only those who fight and kill for it (including his own people).

It is a fascinating and brilliant film. A MUST see.

A Cinematic Triumph

A number of reviewers say here that Downfall was overlong; I can honestly say that I hadn't noticed its length until I looked at the 149 min duration just now. The film kept me captivated throughout.

Downfall is a very, very good film. Certainly heavy subject matter, and the subtitles will certainly deter some viewers, but Downfall would be much less of a film had it been made in English.

The characters are all thoroughly convincing, and the infighting and internal politics within the high-ranking members of the Nazi party add an unfamiliar - dare I say it - humanity to the names made familiar to me by school history lessons.

Bruno Ganz's Hitler is remarkable. Instead of the pompous demon which we are commonly shown, Ganz brings to the table a portrayal of a desperate man who, as his entire life's work crumbles around him, tries to square off his unfaltering faith in the future of the aryan race with the irrefutable and gathering evidence of its failure. Ganz's performance is so convincing, adding such a real dimension to one of the most evil men that ever lived, that you almost begin to feel sorry for him as we watch him quickly descend into mental and physical decline. However, it isn't long before we are chillingly reminded of his true colours when he expresses his gladness in 'cleansing the German population of the Jews'.

Downfall is a marvellously written, well directed, well cast and well acted piece of work which shows the upper ranks of the Nazi party with a human face. It is this that, rather than evoking sympathy for their actions, makes the events of WWII all the more horrifying.

Provokative and compelling film...

An excellent film that deserves to be regarded with the same status as other classics such as Saving Private Ryan and Schindlers List. The subject matter, which focuses on Hitler and his top brass in his Berlin bunker during the dying days of the war, has a refreshing perspective and the fact that it is all in German makes it all the more authentic and involving. It provokes all the familiar emotions about the futility of war and the pointless loss of countless lives, but in doing so, it also gives a compelling insight into the madness of the German war-room and indeed into Hitlers own thought process.

The film is based on two historical books which lends the film its authority but the realism is truly brought home by the brilliant acting, in particular by Bruno Ganz, who plays Hitler.

The subject matter means that this film won't be for everyone but if you are in the slightest bit interested then I highly recommend that you watch it as it is a gripping and enlightening piece of work that deserves to be shown to the widest possible audience.

[Highly rated reviewer]

Downfall

1945. The Russian army is closing in on Berlin, it will fall in 12 days. A completely insane Adolf Hitler (Ganz) sits in his bunker, moving armies long since decimated in an attempt to save himself. With him are close staff (including Josef and Magda Goebbels (Matthes and Harfouch) and his private secretary Traudl Junge (Lara)) and his wife to be Eva Braun (Kohler). As the situation becomes more hopeless some commit suicide and others try to escape Berlin. World War Two is among the most depicted historical events in cinema and even this story, from within Hitler's bunker, has been told before so what is it that makes Downfall so notable an undertaking? In the first instance this is the first German film in 50 years to portray Hitler. Right from the off the portrayl of Hitler throws you. The first scene has him recruiting a new secretary. He's cordial, even kind, when testing Traudl Junge's typing skills and this more human side of a man who it would be so easy to show as a monster surfaces througout the film. The effect of this is brilliant because not only does it mean that Ganz can give a more nuanced performance than almost any other screen Hitler but it makes the scenes of his ranting and raving all the more disturbing because he isn't just the boogeyman. Ganz is sensational as Hitler, making the interesting choice to portray him as having Parkinsons disease (and certainly it's not a strange choice, you can always see him tremoring in documentary footage). The resembelence Ganz has to Hitler is uncanny and this carries through in the rasping voice. Alexandra Maria Lara's Traudl Junge is the point of identification for the audience. She's clearly something of an innocent seduced by Hitler and as the film goes on is more and more adrift and out of place in the bunker. Even though she's obviously close to Hitler you want her to escape the horrible situation she's in, a testament to the sympathetic character that Lara creates. The most memorable character in the film, however, is Corinna Harfouch's terrifying, loathsome, Magda Goebbels. As a dramatic performance it's brilliant, intense and convincing but it's the frightening calmness with which she murders her six children which will stay burned on your brain. Oliver Hirschbiegel brings to the bunker scenes the same creeping claustrophobia which made his last film Das Experiment so frequently disturbing and captures the chaos outside with a visceral, violent, documentary realism. The sound is key to this with explosions almost constantly shaking the scenes (to say nothing of your nerves). At 150 minutes plus Downfall could be a real endurance test but the running time zips by, simply because the whole thing is just so good and so compelling. What could hurt it is the death of its main character and, yes, the half hour after Hitler's suicide is somewhat less brilliant than the rest of the film, but frankly thats hardly a criticism. Downfall is the best war film to be released in many years and I can't recommend it highly enough.

Subtitle's Subtitle's Subtitle's

Did not know the film was all in Subtitle's, you would have to watch the film twice, once to read the Subs then to watch the film, i wish they dubbed it in english sound, it seemed to be a decent film but it will really put you off of watching it because of the Subtitle's.

Spellbinding

An ambitious project on all accounts, this meticulously detailed reconstruction of the oft-filmed final days in the bunker, with its vast cast of characters and immense scale, should be commended for its ability to focus in on the smaller human tragedies as well as the worldwide devastation that it encompasses.

Where the film comes together though, is in its cinematic qualities; this is pure cinema, with its sweeping camera movements and voyeuristic steady-cam, and these attributes, coupled with the constant pounding of bombs outside, places the viewer right inside the bunker, with its endless, cold concrete corridors.

The cast are also top-notch, let’s not forget, very rarely tending towards the caricature that comes along with their characters, and Bruno Ganz makes for the most horrifying- and convincing- Hitler on screen.

Still, despite all its strengths, there is one flaw: Traudl Junge, the main character, never comes off as more than an extraneous narrative contrivance; she bears little relevance to the story, and, with her innocent eyes and angelic demeanor, emerges as a Hollywood heroine of the lowest order. She’s meant to be a character the audience can ‘relate to’; and in the end this feels like an insult to the viewer.

But that’s the only problem with this important work, which, if grueling and painful to watch at times, is a strongly rewarding experience which transcends its limitations by being one of the most extraordinary- and significant- filmic events of the decade.

Definitive Docudrama of Hitler’s last days

This is by far the best reconstruction of Hitler’s last days trapped in the bunkers beneath the Reich Chancellery in Berlin as the Russians are advancing relentlessly towards him.

Bruno Ganz is the finest Hitler I have ever seen, he encompasses on the one hand the charm (yes Hitler was Viennese and could be a charming man, especially with women) and the manic ravings and fantasising of his last days.

The drama is witnessed from the viewpoint of Traudl Junge (Harfouch) a secretary who in real gave extensive interviews of her experiences. Traudl provides a personal and human perspective on the horror of what is unfolding, and everyones fully justified terror of the Russians seeking revenge for the brutality of the NAZI’s occupation of Russia.

The appalling scene where Magda Goebbels (Mathes) drugs and then poisons their children (original footage of these beautiful children singing folk songs exists) and the suppressed desperation of the parents, however evil they were, is heartbreaking.

The emotions of all the people involved, soldiers, civilian staff, officers and generals, and the outside population suffering under relentless Russian shelling are realistically explored.

Excellent reconstruction of the bunker, directing, acting and photography makes this film an experience you will remember every time you think of the fall of the Third Reich.

Best realisation of Hitler

This is an amazing film simply due to the powerful and well studied performance by Bruno Ganz as Hitler. The film is obviously dark in nature as it deals with the self destruction of the National Socialist Party and the German war machine with Hitler in denial that his folly resulted with the German downfall. The acting is gripping and the cinematography feels very real. It screams authenticity.

The film does suffer from limited sets and not enough on seeing Berlin getting occupied by the advancing Russian forces but if its political custom drama and some excellent character analysis than this film wins top marks. It was refreshing to see German soldiers played as human beings as opposed to the stereotypical 'Nazi monsters' that graces our screens with most WW2 films.

[Highly rated reviewer]

All in ordnung

Solid mainstream melodrama. Like a BBC made for TV production. In German.

You get the sordid sequence of events all slotted in their right places. You get the tinkly piano in the quiet bits. Then the swelling strings in the big bits. All stagily stage-managed and efficiently performed.

I have a problem with Bruno Ganz as Hitler. I associate Ganz with gentle sweet melancholy, with baleful looks and warm sympathetic intelligence.

But Hitler was Hitler. And Ganz is Ganz.

He's impersonating Hitler. And by all accounts it's masterful, uncannily accurate. He's acted it well.

But Hitler was Hitler.

It's a long film. We know how it ends. I had to start hurrying it up towards it's end after about an hour.

It's cold blooded, literal-minded, psychologically empty.

Nothing unpredictable happens. All the chaos happens as it should.

There's a dogged determination to be getting all the 'history' down.

S S officers shoot themselves thro the head on cue.

It's methodical - and dull.