Has anybody seen the German film "DOWNFALL"?

[liberalpragmatist]

I'm curious what people's thoughts on the German film "Der Untergang" aka "Downfall" are? The film was a 2004 release and only got a limited release in the U.S. It generally got http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/downfall/">rave reviews while also attracting quite a bit of controversy.



The film is about the last days of Adolf Hitler and his top brass in the bunkers of Berlin. The film attracted a great deal of attention due to the fact that it portrayed Hitler and his top associates as human beings. Hitler was shown to be cruel and bile-spewing in some settings, but kind to his dog, fatherly to his secretary, loving to the children of the Goebbel's and charming to the ladies. Also difficult for some was the film's portrayal of Germans as victims too - the film portrayed the devastation that the Russians wrought on German cities and the huge numbers of civilian deaths. Some also complained that a few characters, notably Hitler's doctor Schenk and Albert Speer, were portrayed heroically, despite the fact that they were later deemed war criminals (Schenk, though he was supposedly heavily concerned in the last days of the war with treating German civilians - which is what was portrayed - had relied on medical experiments on concentration camp inmates).

I have not seen the film but would like to. I'd like to hear what others who have seen the film thought about it - did it give an overly rosy view of the Germans and the Nazi leadership or was it genuinely gripping and something you would recommend?

[sweetheart]

1. it was a brilliant film

It is one of the best war films, if not the best, i've ever seen.

It is 'THE' world war 2 film, as without the death of the antagonist,
all the other films are a bit empty for the pictures of some torched
bodies.

To see hitler come alive, as a bush-like creepy, under the whitehouse
kind of terrorist nutter, makes it all that more spooky, to reailze how
incredibly close the republicans have become to being just like them.

The secretary (in real life), and her real words, just made it chilling,
for all the hitler movies and images i've seen in a lifetime, a living
witness made it all the more substantial.

[skygazer]

2. VERY good film

I think part of what made it so good was the fact that the characters were not played as completely good or completely evil - I don't believe there is such a thing. I think part of what's so horrifying about Hitler or people like him is that there are different aspects to their characters and some of them are positive. It was NOT a rosy view at all - it was a well-rounded and complex view and very compelling. The guy who played Hitler was incredible.

I would recommend both it and Blind Spot which was a documentary about the memories of Hitler's secretary, Traudl Junge.

[MountainLaurel]

4. That was it, exactly

The players involved were human, with all the foibles and talents thereof. It demonstrates that these folks were not unduly evil and if the same situation were to arise in the U.S., those fervent Nazis and even, as Junge described herself, halfhearted ones, could be our neighbors, the grocery clerk, or even us. In some cases, they went against what their hearts and minds were telling them, in order to obey (the scenes with the Hoebbel children, in particular). That is what was terrifying.

[tjwmason]

3. Excellent film.

Like so many which show the inside of such evil I found it very scary.

The parts with the Goebbels children were particularly gut-wrenching.

I didn't find that it gave an overly rosy view of the Nazis, it showed them as humans...which is all the more concerning really.

It did seem to accept Speer's own depiction of himself, which is not universally accepted - but personally I found the mere presence of a person in that circle to be a total mitigation against heroism.

[LostinVA]

5. Yes, a few weeks ago -- VERY good

[Burma Jones]

6. Great Film

Should be seen as part of a double feature with Sophie Scholl - that'll make you real happy with The Right Wing in this country....

[sarge43]

7. I'd recommend it

It wasn't by any definition a rosy view, rather a realistic one. Those people were human beings, not caricatures or aberrations and that was the ultimate horror.

It's not an easy film to watch, but it is a film that deserves to be watched.

[MnFats]

8. so good it's frightening.

i've read a lot of history but I've never seen anything that seemed so close to the truth....the end, when army officers and many others, including Frau Geobbels killing her children rather than seeing them live under somethingother than National Socialism, are committing suicide is absolutely harrowning....

I watched it twice.
it is not an upbeat saturday evening movie or a date movie. it is compelling and terrifying..

[rug]

9. They're making a sequel in November 2008.

[liberalpragmatist]

16. I was almost about to ask "on what?" and "what's it called"?

... then I got it :)

[mainegreen]

10. That was a very good film. Excellent portrayal. nt

[rockymountaindem]

11. It was very good

Aside from the controversy, which I think opens interesting discussions, I thought it was a good film. It's hard to put into words, so I think you should see it. It's probably at your local video rental place. When I saw it I went to the midnight screening in a basement theater with a friend of mine who is also interested in WWII. As we decended the third staircase to get to the theater, he mentioned what an appropriate place it was to see a film about Hitler's bunker.

I'd warn you not to watch it if you're squeamish or have an aversion to suicide. There have got to be at least 30 suicides (mostly by pistol) depicted in the film. That hit a couple people I know pretty hard.

[hotforteacher]

12. Quite good.

It doesn't seem difficult to believe that Hitler would have been selectively kind--give a monkey a brain and he thinks he rules the earth.

Overall, I would call it balanced.

[VeggieTart]

13. It was utterly chilling

But it did contain a historical inaccuracy, as Hitler was NOT a vegetarian (he liked squab and sausage). Also, you will notice that Eva Braun did have a fur coat.

But anyway, it portrayed him a human, which he was, losing his mind as his generals tried to tell him he was losing the war.

[HEyHEY]

21. Why do we assume Hitler didn't like meat because of cruelty issues?

Maybe he just didn't like meat.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

22. Actually, he was only a vegetarian in his later years

as a DYI attempt to stave off gastric problems.

[crim son]

14. I've seen it and praised it here on the board.

Totally gripping. See it.

[bikebloke]

15. The casting

Bruno Ganz was great.

However, there was an actor playing a general who should have been cast as Goebbels. The spitting image. Another actor (he was in Winter Sleepers) played the propagandist.

[Kathryn STone]

17. my dad, mom and bf and I saw it here in Dallas

It wasn't here very long. I don't speak German so I am sure a lot of the nuances were lost on me.

[UncleSepp]

18. Seen it a few times... very hard to watch

Things that neither Traudl Junge nor Rochus Misch witnessed directly may not be completely accurate, but the mood is properly captured. They could have chosen better for their Goebbels, though.

[LostinVA]

19. The scene with the children become given the knock-out drugs,

with the oldest girl struggling... the the whacko Mrs. Goebbels crushing the cyanide between their teeth.

Jesus.

[Aristus]

20. Amazing film. I thought it was incredible.

It was an outstanding depiction of what one commentator on the Nazis called "the banality of evil"; the notion that true evil is committed, not by monsters with horns, forked tails and tridents, but by non-descript bureaucrats, stamping papers and signing forms. By innocuous little men and women dutifully "obeying orders" out of a twisted sense of "patriotism."