Downfall (2004)

Disillusioned and crushed, Hitler is beginning to realize that the end is near. His staff and closest friends are told to prepare their wishes. Yet, his commanders, their wives and mistresses, and the few soldiers that have been asked to defend them begin to celebrate. Paranoia has taken over.

Based on the books "Until the Final Hour" by Hitler's secretary Traudl Junge and "Inside Hitler's Bunker" by Joachim Fest, Oliver Hirschbiegel's Downfall chronicles the last days of Hitler (Bruno Ganz, Wings of Desire). Unsurprisingly, the majority of the film takes place inside the bunker where the Nazi leader supposedly committed suicide.

Downfall also follows the deeds of those who Hitler trusted the most. Eva Braun (Juliane Kohler, Nowhere in Africa), Traudl Junge (Alexandra Maria Lara, Youth Without Youth), Joseph Goebbels (Ulrich Matthes, The Ninth Day), and Albert Speer (Heino Ferch, The Tunnel) all play a special part in the chaos that engulfs the bunker once it becomes obvious that Berlin will fall. As a result, the film manages to capture the madness and intensity of the Nazi regime's collapse exceptionally well (the tragic events are seen from a number of different points of view, not just Hitler's).

Still, the narrative is primarily built around Hitler's struggle to surmount the fact that his vision of Greater Germania is slowly eroding. We witness the gradual transformation that he undergoes as well as the demoralizing effect it has on those around him. In a somewhat bizarre way, we begin to understand precisely what tormented Hitler's soul.

Logically, the film's greatest accomplishment is its extraordinary ability to show the Nazi leader in a manner few other films that I could recall have. Oliver Hirschbiegel gives us a man who is a brilliant orator and spectacular tactician. He knows how to control the emotions of his generals as well as how to manipulate their minds.

What takes place outside of Hitler's bunker is just as impressive. The human pandemonium that filled the streets of Berlin hours before the Russians took over is captured magnificently. Downfall shows a chaotic movement of people that is as bizarre and fascinating to behold as are the wild celebrations of the Nazis seen towards the end of the film. Indeed, the sense of grandiose failure achieved by Oliver Hirschbiegel and his team is absolutely stunning.

It has been quite awhile now since I first saw Downfall at my local theater. The impact it had on me was tremendous, and for weeks I thought about what I had seen. I was enormously moved by it not because I was told a story that I was not familiar with, but because I witnessed the resurrection of a historic figure that has never been truthfully depicted in cinema.