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 enlarge | Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel
Actors: Bruno Ganz, Alexandra Maria Lara, Corinna Harfouch, Ulrich Matthes, Juliane Köhler
Studio: Sony Pictures
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.94
Buy Used: $6.09
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New (47) Used (27) from $6.09
Avg. Customer Rating:  358 reviews
Sales Rank: 1248
Format: Ac-3, Color, Dolby, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Ntsc
Languages: English (Subtitled), German (Original Language), Russian (Original Language)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 155
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: D11545D
ISBN: 1404987606
UPC: 043396115453
EAN: 9781404987609
ASIN: B0009RCPUC
Theatrical Release Date: 2004
Release Date: August 2, 2005
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| Customer Reviews:
 Hitler as Human Being--Always Controversial March 25, 2005
259 out of 296 found this review helpful
I saw this film in Germany in November, 2004, and picked up a copy in Berlin this March...my pre-ordered Amazon.de copy was waiting for me on my return.
This film is essential for anyone who wishes to understand "the evil that men do" (and women, for example, Frau Goebbels, who killed her children because she did not want them to grow up in a world without National Socialism, Nazism). It is a deep film, based on the historical novel of Joachim Fest, and the stunning documentary "Blind Spot" (Bis Zum Toten Winkel) revealing the thoughts of Hitler's personal secretary, Traudl Humps (married to an SS officer on Hitler's staff who was killed in 1943, she became Traudl Jung), shortly before her death as the millenium turned.
The acting is superb. The best new crop of German actors, as well as Bruno Ganz portraying Der Führer himself, are excellent. Most of the elements that led to the coming of the Holocaust, the Third Reich, and its downfall are cleverly intertwined in this phenomenally staged docudrama. In several viewings, I could find virtually nothing to criticize, down to the china used in the bunker, or so-called Führerbunker, to the attitudes of the many Field Marshalls, who were in many ways as "apolitical" as General Tommy Franks, attitudes of resignation, as suicide as the last honorable gesture, of "doing the right thing."
Such films have to be seen in context. After 60 years of banishment of the swastika (Hakenkreuz in German) in Germany, we see the swastika in its full "glory" throughout the film, the beautiful and attractive uniforms originally designed by Hugo Boss (no kidding). In context, in 2004, Germans were suddenly faced with an extremely well-made film that shows Hitler as nearly human (hiding is Parkinsonian tremor of his left hand behind his back as he presents the Iron Cross, 2nd Class, to Hitler Youth defending Berlin after the declaration of "Clausewitz"--Berlin as a war front. While other officers plead for the evacuation of women and children, Hitler responds that the German people (das Volk) do not deserve to survive, because they have lost this war. National Socialism is revealed as the death culture it was. In other contexts, there are excellend books, articles, and documentaries revealing how willing the German Volk were to turn over all thought, conscience, morality, to the Führer, who encouraged them to do so. Unfortunately, the next 60 years would show that the attitudes of National Socialism did not die with him.
I could individually commend the performances of the many players and people behind the scenes. I have been to Berlin, and this IS Berlin, to any approximation I have seen in photos of the time, and I have been in the last remaining Air Raid shelter (bunker) for the populace and it is no different from this soundstage, save the furniture that was probably taken from Jews years before by the party, which ended up as furnishings in the many homes of the high command and Hitler.
After viewing the film, I do recommend that the viewer take in "Schindler's List" or "The Pianist" to complement it. As we are faced with worldwide conflagration against a non-uniformed enemy of Western culture and democracy, it is hard to think of World War Two as the last of the "civilized" wars, even though it was perhaps the last of uniformed armies facing one another (the Cold War, which never went hot, excluded).
This film does show, through the characters of Traudl Junge and her young friend, the Hitler Youth decorated by Hitler personally, as they walk through the Soviet line on their way back to Bavaria, that the policy of war as a solution to any international dispute is at best fragile. Perhaps that fragility is our best hope for peace.
Historical Film of a Madman's Slipping Grip of His Nation... March 25, 2005
10 out of 13 found this review helpful
Downfall takes place during Adolf Hitler's last ten days in power before he committed suicide. This is not the first film that depicts Hitler's last days, as Hitler: The Last Ten Day's (1973) and The Bunker (1981) have also displayed the last ten days of his life. However, Downfall is the first German production where Hitler is the main character. In the past great actors such as Anthony Hopkins and Alec Guinness portrayed this Nazi despot, but this time the audience gets to see the brilliant German speaking actor Bruno Ganz provide a strong performance as the Fuhrer. Previously the audience could have experienced his brilliant acting in Wings of Desire (1987) as a peaceful angel. The films success rests in Ganz's strong performance, as he provides an authentic depiction of the notorious Nazi leader.
Several reviews and comments have been made in regards to how Hitler is occasionally portrayed as a caring person, which can be understood in regards to the war crimes that he ordered. However, it provides a contrast in his character that accentuates the madness behind the Nazi regime that ended up killing millions of people, and started a war that cost almost 50 million lives. Bruno Ganz shows a beaten man who feebly attempts to stand strong through flaming rage and screaming ultimatums based on his own ludicrous convictions that many seemed to share in the bunker where he spent his last ten days. Ironically, the gray, claustrophobic rooms of the bunker become an unintentional symbol for Hitler's narrow minded convictions, which were about to reach thier doom at the end of April 1945.
The film opens in 1942 when Hitler hired his secretary Traudl Junge (Alexandra Maria Lara), who stayed with Hitler until his death. Her memoirs and a documentary, Blind Spot: Hitler's Secretary (2002), served as the backbone to the film. After the opening, the film quickly jumps forward to the near end of the war when Hitler and his closest people fortified themselves inside a bunker located in the middle of Berlin. Much has been documented in history books in regards to Hitler's charismatic persona and his ability to get people to follow him. Despite his strong magnetic charisma the audience gets to witness how people around Hitler begin to sneak away, as the Soviet Red Army is approaching while bombarding the city of Berlin without consideration of the civil population.
In a first thought Downfall seems to be focused on Hitler, but with more careful consideration the film depicts the people of Germany and how they were affected by the Nazi regime and the fall of the Third Reich. Children considered Hitler as a hero, and into the end when soldiers where in short supply children were used to fill the depleted ranks in the diminishing Nazi war machine. On the streets, people were murdered for being suspected as Communist sympathizers if they did not fight against the looming Red Army. Yet, people believed that Hitler might have had a triumph card to play, as the people believed that they were suppose to be superior according to what Hitler had preached to them.
There was no triumph card, as Hitler continued to commanded his generals to move imaginary troops, execute orders of the destruction of Berlin, and show no regard for civilian life within Berlin or the rest of Germany. Cruel comments were made by Joseph Goebbels (Ulrich Matthes) and Hitler, as they blamed the German people for the fall of the Third Reich. Goebbels mentioned that he did not care whether the German people died, as they were to blame for electing the Nazi's into power and fulfilling the Nazi regime's goal. Hitler infers that the German people are not fit to survive if they are not strong enough to survive. In a sense, Hitler's persona radiates blame on others, as his leadership could not be faulty, only the incompetence of the people around him could be to blame.
This notion of Nazi superiority was also heavily imbedded within Goebbels' wife, Magda (Corinna Harfouch), who firmly believed that there was no other right government than National Socialism. Magda displays her strong beliefs through having a chemist concoct a sleeping mixture that she makes her children drink with the intention of killing them. The reason for killing her children is that she believes that the end of National Socialism will also be the end of the world. After Mrs. Goebbels has put the children asleep she slips into their small bunker room and kills the children one by one through small cyanide ampoules followed by playing a game of solitaire in silence.
In the backdrop of Hitler's vicious ideology and neglect towards human life it might be hard to understand that he might have been caring, but this caring had a personal purpose. Hitler displays his kindness to those who show him loyalty and progress, as he shows kindness to his cook, the secretary, and Goebbels who remain next to him like a faithful dog. Maybe it explains Hitler's strong affection for dogs, as they could be manipulated and taught to do what he wanted such as sitting. Hitler's dog Blondi, a German Shepard, occasionally acted in an unusual manner, which the audience learns from Eva Braun (Juliane Köhler) Hitler's social companion, who kicked the dog when no one was watching, as she could not stand the dog. In a simplified perspective, the world should be run like a kennel according to Hitler, as people should be trained to think and do only as the Nazi regime dictated. The training includes assimilation into a single minded perspective, which was accomplished through severe punishment and education of the youth.
In the simplified perspective of a kennel the audience should ponder the notion of true freedom, as people continue in modern day to push their values, beliefs, and morals onto the laps of others. Diversity refers to a complex accumulation of ideas originated from a wide range of backgrounds where each notion is equally valued, as each person with each notion is unique and never truly identical due to the progress of education and experiences that form values, beliefs, and morals. Hitler's version of the world suggests to punish people until they do what they are suppose to and then reward them for the actions that are desired according to the doctrine. Ultimately, Downfall offers a dark historical illustration of what happen, which should still be contemplated in today's society in order to prevent similar events from taking place in the future.
All Too Real March 25, 2005
15 out of 16 found this review helpful
Words such as surreal and horror and terror are used so much in our everyday lives that they have essentially lost their meaning. Somebody describes a car accident as being terrible. Somebody describes a murder as being horrible. While these descriptions are certainly accurate, the situations they describe seem almost benign in comparison to the events depicted in this brutally realistic, riveting re-enactment of the final days of the Third Reich. There are really no words to describe it.
It is late April, 1945, and Berlin is surrounded by the Red Army. The city is in ruins, and heavy artillery bombardments occur hourly. Bodies litter the street. The army is composed of twelve-year olds, standing bravely at their posts, using anti-aircraft weapons to defend themselves against tanks. The hospitals are filled with the sick, the aged, the wounded, the dying, and there is no medical personnel to administer to them.
The German high command is living in an underground bunker which shakes continually from the overhead thunder. Adolf Hitler is completely deranged, shrieking orders that can not be followed, demanding that make-believe units perform impossible tasks. Some of his subordinates attempt to reason with him, others irrationally continue to insist that his orders be followed. Some speak quietly among themselves about what can be done, fearful that others will accuse them of treason.
A harried, haggard field commander receives an order from them. He is to be shot for retreating from his position, something he has not done. He walks to the high command--his front line post is only a few blocks away--and is told that Hitler himself wants to see him. Following this meeting he is told that he won't be shot; he has instead been promoted. "I would rather have been shot," he says.
Eva Braun wants to have a party, and does so. People frantically, drunkenly dance. Soldiers on duty gulp vodka, telling each other ribald jokes. Arrangements are made to distribute cyanide pills. Some calmly begin to shoot themselves.
But mostly, order remains amidst the chaos. People go about their business as usual. Discussions must be had. Meetings must be held. Decisions must be made. Papers must be typed, food must be cooked, dishes must be cleaned, lipstick must be applied.
For they are human beings after all. Real human beings--no different than anyone else--in the direst straits imaginable. Terror and death are days if not hours away. Life has become a never-ending nightmare: their leader has gone mad, their enemy wants to kill them, they know they will get and deserve no mercy. Nothing makes sense, nothing seems real; everything is hopelessness and despair. Their anguish is superbly portrayed, and our hearts, truly, go out to them.
There are those who have been critical of the film for this, in that it dares to show the human side of these Germans, these Nazis, these monsters. They are missing the point. Adolf Hitler did not wake up one day and decide he was going to be evil. He didn't have a sign on his forehead to proclaim this to the world. He didn't have horns on his head or a forked tail. He was instead, a man, nothing more and nothing less. Furthermore, he was a man who believed in his cause, and that his cause was right and just. He was able to convince an entire nation of people--without necessarily telling them the entire truth--that his cause was right and just, and they willingly followed him because they believed in the rightness and justness of this cause.
That is the lesson of this brilliant movie. Evil is not going to walk into a room and announce itself; it is instead going to dress fashionably and speak in a convincing and reasonable manner. None of us are impervious to it, and often we make this discovery after it is too late: when the artillery shells are blowing up in the neighborhood, and everyone we know is dead. It is important to remember that evil continues to exist. We are surrounded by it, and will continue to be susceptible to it until the hour of our dying breath.
A Great German Film to BUY & Keep March 22, 2005
5 out of 9 found this review helpful
Very closed to the story told by the young Secretary of Hitler.
The Acting of the Romania born actress Alexandra Maria Lara is 5 Star! a DVD to BUY & KEEP !!
Stunning depiction of Hitler's last days March 21, 2005
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
This film is incredibly powerful for several reasons. First being a German production adds a remarkable sense of authenticity that Hollywood could never hope to capture for this subject matter. Second, the actors bare amazing resemblences to the historical figures that they portray. Third the screenplay, captures the sense of tension and the mixed emotions of a group of people witnessing their world collapsing. It is without a doubt the most honest depiction of the fall of Berlin ever put to film.
The atmosphere inside the bunker is portrayed with a depth that takes into account varying viewpoints of the people who were there so that the viewer is drawn into the drama of the events as they unfold in a way that has never been achieved in any documentary.
Great acting, wonderful cinematography and a well-written screenplay all contribute to a stunning film experience. One of the finest films of it's kind I have ever seen.
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