El hundimiento

'Der Untergang' is probably the only WW2 movie I've ever seen, which only deals with facts and is utterly deprived of any form of commercialism whatsoever. Bruno Ganz is truly excellent in his role as Adolf Hitler, a tired man who sees his "Reich" fall, but cannot accept it. Overall (type)casting is very good; all the actors chosen to portray a famous/notorious character look a lot like the real deal, especially Goebbels. Although I'm not a fan of long war movies, these 2,5 hours passed very quickly due to excellent acting, great sets, FX and storyline. Somehow, every scene is dripping with underlying tension that never really explodes; a kind of unsettling unbelieved grips you when you see seemingly ordinary people commit astonishing atrocities and sins towards mankind, just for their faith and loyalty to one man, Hitler, who himself walks the edge of reason.

Great movie : 10/10 without a doubt.

Truly great movies are few and far between these days; but Der Untergang most definitely represents one of those rare occasions. Oliver Hirschbiegel, who brought us the wonderful 'Das Experiment' has produced a film that is very nearly perfect. Depicting the final ten days of Hitler and the National Socialist regime, Der Untergang or 'The Downfall' to give it it's English title is an expose of failure and the way that a madman can bend a whole nation into doing his bidding. The film is very realistic, and an excellent ensemble cast breathe life and believability into the roles of the various members of the Nazi party and because every performance is picture perfect, the whole thing comes together brilliantly as one whole piece. Bruno Ganz gives the central performance as the Fuhrer himself and it is one of the greatest performances I've ever seen in a film. His portrayal of Hitler in the middle of his downfall is absolutely perfect, and Ganz excellently portrays the man's every emotion. It must be difficult to play such a notorious character as Hitler himself, but Ganz rises to the occasion and gives it his all.

It is not the acting or the realism that is Der Untergang's main claim to greatness, however - it's the double meaning behind every scene. Each one is perfectly composed, and all the time you're watching you can not only see what's happening on screen but also take note of the implications surrounding it. Through every scene, there's always the notion that a nation is falling. That's another thing that's great about this movie - the way that it manipulates the audience into an awkward situation. On the one hand, we know that Hitler and the Nazi regime were unspeakably evil; but while we're watching this almost great nation crumble around it's leader, it is hard to watch without feeling some sympathy for the country, in spite of the ideals that were preached. I thought it would be impossible to generate feelings for the Nazi's; but Der Untergang has managed even that. 'The Downfall' is an apt title for this movie, as aside from depicting an important event in history; the film is fundamentally about failure. The entire movie focuses on one man's huge downfall, and it is both a heartbreaking and powerful cinematic experience. Der Untergang is not to be missed.

The film deals with the history of Hitler's last days in underground bunker , it's the true story of the historic downfall and death (at age 55 in 1945) of the infamous Nazi dictator's culprit of death of 50 million people during second war world and killing of 6 million Jewish in concentration camps . The Fuhrer's last few tortured days in his underground bunker against a Berlin background . Hitler had height five feet , seven inches , eyes black , hair black , shaggy locks hung over forehead , complexion sallow , wide mustache , various hairs on each side ; besides he had marked devotion to brown shirts and old trench-coat and always surrounded by armed thugs and expert gunmen . He had demented gaze with tendency to become hysterical on slight provocation with delusions , particularly upon his place in history and his powers over vast numbers of people and addicted to public hysteria on race purity , and known to throw himself on the floor and gnaw rugs, guttural voice apt to rise to shrill tones when excited or thwarted . He was a congenital liar suffering from dreams of persecution . Almost all these physical descriptions and particulars of Hitler are perfectly incarnated by Bruno Ganz who even studied Parkinson's disease patients in a Swiss hospital to prepare for his role . Thus , he magnificently plays him as a sadistic , malicious , dangerous , vengeful, mystical and maniacal man .

Bruno Ganz's portrayal is the perfection in the Hitler role one would expect at least on the surface , he gives insight to his madness and with persuasive qualities of his interpretation . A flawless casting with excellent German actors such as Alexandra Maria Lara (personal secretary Traudl Junge and the picture is based on his book) as co-protagonist , Juliane Kohler (Eva Braun) and distinguished players as Ulrich Matthes (Joseph Goebbles) , Corinna Harfouch (Magda Goebbles) and Thomas Kretschman . Besides , a nice support cast who play to famous characters as Martin Borman , Alber Speer , General Keitel , General Jodl and Hermann Goering and specially Heimrich Himmler who will betray to Hitler deciding along with the count Bernardotte to agree peace with the Allies , originating his hysteria splendidly reflected in the movie . In spite of Berlin is surrounded and meanwhile the bloody war with enormous bombing fall about the survivors and last defending , Hitler prepares the sad farewell very well narrated by the director Oliver Hirschbiegel and superbly captured the atmosphere by the cameras . The motion picture is one of the best war movies ever made , on pair with ¨Das Boot (also German movie and directed by Wolfgang Petersen) and ¨Saving private Ryan¨ (Steven Spielberg) . The flick will appeal to historical cinema enthusiasts and warlike genre fans. Rating : Above average and astounding , being interesting and thoughtful .

Now here is a novel idea, making a movie from the "enemy's" point of view, attaching a human face to probably the most notorious institute of evil in human history. Before watching this film, I had reservations over how much I would enjoy it and what I might gain from it. I was concerned that the film may be an attempt to show the human side of the Nazi party, to make us sympathetic not to their cause, but to their human nature. I had to think to myself, do I really want to attach a human element to people who history has painted as monsters? The film begins with Hitler recruiting Traudl Junge as a new secretary in 1942, from this point onwards the film is predominantly (but not entirely) seen through her eyes. This key scene at the beginning of the film shows how people reacted to their leader with fanatical loyalty, holding him high in reverence. This gives us a brief insight into the belief of his followers that what they were doing would lead them to a golden utopia, a better world. All to often in films concerning Nazi's, they are portrayed as evil personified, killing for killing's sake, being evil for the sake of being evil. What we get throughout this film is a more realistic viewpoint of people's attitudes. The people who followed Hitler may have no entirely agreed with everything he said, may have not hung on his every word, but believed that he would lead them to a greater future, as such they followed.

Bruno Ganz, does a magnificent job of playing one of history's most notorious and documented individuals. He plays the role as, what I feel, accurately and realistically as possible. He resists the temptation to play Hitler as an uber-evil super-villain, disregarding all life who opposes him and wiping out humans at a whim. He plays the roles as an ageing leader, loosing grip on his health, his sanity and his conquest. A man who was kind, considerate and caring to children, his dog and his civilian staff, but who also attempted to wipe out an entire race of people and was proud of himself for doing it. It shows a man willing to send young children into the street to resist enemy advancement, it shows a man who believes that the civilian population would not be evacuated, as it was their chance to rise up (women and children, the old and sick, un armed) and prove they deserved victory. This film raises the question, was Hitler an evil man who practised evil deeds through his beliefs? or were his evil deeds a result of his absolute pursuit of his beliefs? Watching Ganz's performance, you get the feeling all Hitler had left before he took his life, was his ideals (not that this is anything to be proud of). He had lost the war, he had lost the respect of several of his commanding officers and he had lost his grip on reality.

The film also shows Hitler's closest officers and staff, it shows how they react to the downfall. Some have blind and fanatical faith that Hitler will act as their saviour and devise a scheme to turn the battle around. Some accept that their leader has lost his grip, but follow with blind devotion anyway. Some are not so sure and see the cracks in the beliefs they were fighting for. The film shows these often horrifying moments and realisations in all to realistic detail.

Ultimately, Downfall shows the human and personal element of the end of the war for Hitler and the Nazis. It shows how real people, people who tell jokes, drink, socialise, listen to songs and dance, also followed national socialism with a devotion that drove them to do the terrible things they did. It shows how they did not believe what they were doing was wrong, in their minds they were paving the way for their glorious future. It also shows their fanatical devotion and blind faith in their goal, led to their downfall, both as a movement and as human beings.

Downfall is an amazing and powerful film, documenting an unseen side of a major historical event. The film ends with video footage of the real Traudl Junge talking about her feelings towards the war and he involvement with the Nazis. She says that when she first became involved with the Nazis, she was in awe of their power and beliefs, she may have not agreed with everything they did, but what difference would her being involved or not make? She was ignorant to their deeds and as such held a clean conscience. Then she says has realised over time she had the power not to be ignorant to their deeds, that she should have stayed away from them, realising them for the evil that they were. I felt she was warning what ignorance can lead to, that no matter how tiny one person is in the scheme of things, it is no excuse to contribute towards the wrong cause.

Excellent historical film, highly recommended.

The first internationally released German production to feature Hitler as a central figure, "Downfall" (2004) takes place in the dismal gloomy Berlin during April - May 1945 in anticipation of the inevitable German defeat. The film shows the last days of Hitler and those close to him through the eyes of his young secretary, Traudl Junge.

Oliver Hirschbiegel's film has been criticized by some circles as presenting a "too sympathetic" portrait of the Fuhrer. I don't believe anything in the film suggests that its creators sympathize with the Nazi regime and those who had orchestrated it.

Showing Hitler as a human being (amazing performance by Bruno Ganz), a man who loved his dog, was a vegetarian and could display some moments of tenderness did not undermine the overall image of a lonely, domineering, conscienceless, and hateful man who believed that his people, his compatriots, women and children deserve to die because they are no longer deserve to live and because "in a war as such there are no civilians".

Did those who think that that the film "humanized" Hitler forget the most chilling scene in the movie, the one that shows Frau Goebbels crush the ampoules with cyanide between her children's teeth, after they had been dosed with a sleeping draught? She did it not because she was scared of what would happen to them after the war, no, her reason was, "The country without National Socialism and its party is not worth living in". How dangerous Hitler was if he could induce such a blind devotion that could convince a mother of six to murder her children in cold blood.

Bernd Eichinger, the producer and scriptwriter of "Downfall" emphasized, the greatest danger he saw in making a film about Hitler was the temptation to show him as a psychopath or madman: "Hitler possessed an enormous criminal and destructive energy, and he was a barbarian in the most fundamental sense of the term... But I am convinced that he was totally of sound mind until the very end, which is why leadership never slipped from his hands."

The film's director Oliver Hirschbiege says that, in the same way it was evil of Hitler to see Jews as less than human beings - i.e. as "insects" - it would be equally wrong to portray Hitler as a madman, because that would excuse him of culpability: "I think the biggest mistake is to have an image of Hitler as insane - that he was not a human being but a monster. The most important point to realize is that Hitler was not a madman, not a psychopath or someone on drugs, which implies that he wasn't responsible for what he was doing. Of course he was responsible! "For me, (this film is) paying homage to and truly honoring the victims, because we fall short if we explain the Holocaust by stating that they were all out of their minds. They knew what they were doing!"

I believe that the result of their work, the film I saw last night is absolutely unforgettable - honest, powerful and devastating. It is a masterwork of film-making and a very important in its objectivity historical document.

9.5/10