Downfall

when i watched this movie i was surprised and happy to see the germans takeing steps in makeing movies that teach the war from their point of view. you can not say it is 100% accruate but like all war movies it is their view and feeling on it.

this movie reminds us that thoes evil men who commited some of the worst crimes in history were indeed humen, and not only that they 100% truely belived in what the did was right and did not care if it was wrong.

some of the one star commits have some truth to them they died with no real honor but this movie was made in a way so you know how they were thinking and in their minds they made man kind better, and killed them selves in what they belived was their honor. that just shows you how and why the nazi power was unwaverd, how hitlers control was soo great that even in the end they belived in him. how ever it does show some who were afride to be cought and did not want to face trial so they ended them selvs.

some of the coments says it makes speer and others look like they were innocent good guys, the movie never makes any claims to such, nore does it try to pretend they were innocent. in the end of the the fall the german country was litterly being blown off the face of the earth, hitler wanting the whole german race to die for their weekness made it so the russians would keep on killing them till he surrenderd. not wanting to end the whole german race lots of officers even speer tried to surrender to the amercians, even himmler tried to deal with the amercians. because you want your people to survive does not make you a good guy, it just means he loved his country. now for the properganda i really did not notice any, all i noticed was it points out that a evil man such as hitler should never be forgotten cause for a short time the world revloved around his actions and it caused caos, and we should learn from this mistake the world. it also shows that even today the german people are still confused on how they should feel about him. he was a very evil man and should be hated but at the same time he is one of the most important person in their history.

if you love german fims in german with subs just remember forget the book this is a movie. i recremend this movie to all of thoes who have a learned mind and truely understands this view point, im not saying it is right or 100% accruate but it is a very good movie.

For anyone trying to understand the WW2 era in European history, this is a must. Carefully done by Germans, this movie is excellent in helping outsiders get a handle on why people did what they did. It approaches the central characters in a more 3D way, opting not to portray people as caricatures or cartoons with no soul.

The greatest movies are those that capture, torture and then motivate your mind. Out of well documented tragedies of the past century, two places always evoke my imagination: Petrograd of 1917 and Berlin of 1945; both marked an inhuman end of each empire and a complete termination of previous way of living.

Downfall kept my breath stopped to the end entirely having me absorbed into this deadly oasis among human ruins. What makes this film a masterpiece is a rarely balanced measure of excellent acting and historic authenticity that reaches here the voyeuristic level: each little scene makes up a grandiose landscape of characters. Like in genuine Greek tragedy, you realize that each of these men and women was mentally trapped and could not act any other way than they did. Therein Bruno Ganz (Adolf Hitler) plays well, albeit not without a little grotesque, which Hitler, like any huge public figure, unconsciously cast upon himself. As well portrayed are Albert Speer und Magda Goebbels. Eva Braun has somewhat decadent imprint on her personality (did the Bunker abet that trait?). You watch a highly deluded man's sudden acceptance of harsh reality when it's "too late"; the grim verdict - "The war is lost" - nevertheless needed to be heard from the Fuehrer by his well informed staff, for it meant an end, a complete, total, ultimate end.

I must add I've never seen as many suicides in a movie as in Downfall: from an unknown fighter to the highest Nazi ranks, including Hitler (his suicide is shown, as it has to be, with the doors closed). In the scene where the Fuehrer was saying farewell to his close circle, preparing to leave this world, he took his Nazi membership badge off his lapel and put in on Magda Goebbels - for being the examplary German mother. Therewith the deadliest, misanthropic venom of the Fuehrer's callousness was passed over to her. How symbolic. Then comes the scene of killing of Goebbels' children by their mother's stern hand, which is an uneasy experience.

Some minor notes. In the scene with partygoers, bemused Traudl says "It's so unreal": no matter if that was ever really said so bluntly - that should've been omitted in the film - we, viewers, witness it ourselves. Secondly, it's been mentioned, Traudl is at shocking gaze when she hears Hitler speaking of Jews with his typical aversion. You cannot believe her character at this moment: she's a proffesional secretary brought up in Nazi Germany, socializing within the highest Nazi millieu, for whom hatred for Jews was in blood; you don't expect her to be THAT naive.

Like in most European films, there's no score soundtrack in Downfall (one scene has a brief sentimental music background), or maybe there is but you don't notice it while watching the film. In the end of the film you are given a brief story of each character after the war; quite impressing to find out that some of the figures in the movie just recently died or even still are alive!

Personally I found a bit distracting the fact that filming was done on dear streets of St. Petersburg, my home city, inasmuch as the modern Berlin offers very little of its imperial past (besides, as the director admits in the comments, there's no way one can "rent" a street in Berlin for a week to shoot a movie). The Moika's railings are merely more elegant that those of the Spree embankments. But, of course, that is not of importance for other viewers, - the surrounding settings really cannot be any more perfect. And what an unexpected parallel between Petrograd and Berlin!

Highly recommended.

Untergang(Downfall) is an excellent movie. It shows all the human aspects that tend to be forgotten or glossed over by people (whether the frailty and madness of Hitler, delusions of victory and "normalcy" in the bunker, etc)...seen through the eyes of Traudl Junge and a Hitler Youth, it is a descent into darkness during the final days of the war. While the ending was pretty solid artistic license, it played out better as an ending than the gang-rapes of the women....which actually happened. In German with English subtitles.

Good movie - but it's all in German with english sub-titles!
Amazon should have noted this under the product discription.
Other than that the film gives a good account of Hitler's last days
in his bunker, surrounded by his army chiefs, and unwilling to
believe that he was losing the war. There is nothing about the
concentration camps as the story is told through the eyes of
Hitlers young secretary Trudi.