Review of Downfall

Introduction

In 1942 a group of five young women were transported from Berlin to the infamous Wolf`s Lair. Here they were introduced to Adolf Hitler (Bruno Ganz), who was seeking a secretary. Traudl Junge (Alexandra Maria Lange) has something that impresses the Führer, maybe the fact that she is a Bavarian girl from München, and she gets the job.

Fast forward to 20th April 1945, and Adolf Hitler celebrates his last ever birthday with an artillery barrage from the advancing Red Army. Safely ensconced in the Führerbunker, the 13th and final bunker that the dictator had at his disposal, Hitler and his personal staff are seemingly oblivious to the death and destruction above them. Junge is still there and, despite not being an enthusiastic Nazi, feels more of a loyalty to her leader than most of his closest staff. The likes of Himmler and Goering are in the process of leaving Berlin in order to ensure their survival and each will attempt to take control of the crumbling Third Reich in the coming days. Junge and her fellow civilian staff believe the words of Hitler when he tells them that all is not lost and the Russian hordes will be driven back, and all refuse to leave him alone as so many of those high-ranking Party officials do.

Martin Bormann (Thomas Thieme), Albert Speer (Heino Ferch) and Joseph Goebbels (Ulrich Matthes) are the last of the major party officials left with Hitler at the end. Goebbels is spouting the same poisonous rhetoric as ever, but Speer seems to be having doubts. Hitler has ordered a scorched earth policy, demanding that Speer destroys the railways, water supplies and port facilities. Speer realises that this is effectively signing the death warrant of his people and has secretly been opposing those order since they were given. Goebbels raises a Volkssturm, an Army battalion consisting of teenagers, to help defend Berlin. Being mostly unarmed but fanatical in a way that only the young can, they are slaughtered unnecessarily; a fate that does not bring a sympathetic reaction from the Minister of Propaganda.

Eva Braun (Juliane Köhler) has decided to stay by her leader`s side, and in a mood of seemingly hopeless optimism is generally found encouraging people to party and have a good time, despite the chaos that is above them and a realisation by everyone that their time is nearly up. Braun is later joined in the bunker by Magda Goebbels (Corinna Harfouch) and her six children, who raise their Uncle`s spirits with a song. The children don`t seem to realise what is happening around them, with the naivety of young children, and the plans that their parents are making for them.

Hitler`s Generals are caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. On the one hand they are fully aware of how desperate things are for their country, but on the other they have an unswerving loyalty to their leader, despite the more bizarre and completely unrealistic orders he is giving as part of his master plan to save his Reich. Hitler is making plans to stop the advancing Russians with Divisions that no longer exist and screaming at his Generals when they try to tell him that these orders cannot be met. Any hints of cowardice are met with a bullet on the spot, and General Helmut Weidling (Michael Mendl) is ordered to the Bunker to be shot for the crime of moving his command post away from the enemy despite his being in heavy battle for days. Amazingly the hold the Führer has over his men is so absolute that Weidling dutifully reports in for his punishment and to both his amazement and dismay is promoted to oversee the defence of Berlin when the error is discovered.

Meanwhile above the bunker in the desecrated streets of the German capital, the city is almost on its knees. Civilians and soldiers alike are just trying to survive amidst the ruins of a once proud city as the Russians advance. Some can see the hopelessness of the situation and the absurdity of asking young children to fight. To counter them, roving gangs of SS wander the city streets meting out hangings for any of those who will not fight to the death or who believe that the situation is helpless in a useless attempt to restore order.

This, in a nutshell, is the basis for Oliver Hirschbiegel`s film Downfall, or Der Untergang to give it the correct title. Priding itself on historical accuracy, this film is based on two books; Inside Hitler`s Bunker: The Last Days of the Third Reich (Joachim Fest) and Until The Final Hour: Hitler`s Last Secretary (Traudl Jung with Melissa Müller).

Video

A very claustrophobic film, and intentionally so. You really get the impression of an Empire on its last legs with the hierarchy effectively trapped in a big concrete bunker with tiny rooms. The film crew built a replica of the bunker and did not remove the fourth wall in any part of it so that the room they had to move their cameras was very limited. This also adds to the feeling of claustrophobia, especially during the briefing scenes where they can be anywhere up to twenty Generals stood in front of a tiny desk.

The outside scenes of Berlin are just as claustrophobic, but for different reasons. The streets are strewn with rubble and bodies of dead soldiers and civilians alike. You get the sense that many of the inhabitants are aware of what is coming but don`t have the will to try and escape; they`re just waiting for the inevitable.

Audio

Superb DTS track that really makes you feel as if you`re there. Main language is obviously German and the subtitles are really good across both the main feature and all the extras, although they are Hard of Hearing subtitles (which aren`t to everyone`s taste).

Features

The Making of Downfall - excellent and long featurette on how this film was made and the reasons behind it. This film is a big deal in Germany and it`s interesting to hear what the actors in particular have to say about portraying these larger than life characters and the era.

Interview with Melissa Müller - short interview with the author who worked with Traudl Junge on her book Until The Final Hour, giving her impressions of Hitler`s ex-secretary and why she felt it was so important to write this book.

Virtual Tour of the Bunker - interactive feature that shows you a plan of the infamous Bunker and illustrates it with both set photographs and relevant scenes from the film to allow you to familiarise yourself with the layout.

Interviews - short interviews with all the major character actors and the three main players on the production side. These snippets are all taken from the main Making Of featurette but are played in isolation, but they`re not PR guff and as such are deserving of a repeat viewing by themselves.

Biographies - text-based feature that gives you a historical biography of the main characters and also a separate filmography of the actor/actress who portrayed them.

Two behind the scenes documentaries:
Shooting In Russia: Behind The Scenes Look With Production Crew Commentary
About Shooting: Behind The Scenes Look With Directors Commentary

Conclusion

Downfall is a breathtaking film. Never before has the downfall of Nazi Germany been depicted in such a brutal and honest fashion. This film caused some controversy in Germany upon its release in 2004, the country never really getting over what had happened in its name over 60 years previously. Some criticised it for `humanising` the dictator rather than the crude parody of norm, others suggested that Ganz`s portrayal would lead to sympathy to the Nazi leader and serve as a rallying call. Neither is a valid criticism. The film follows an almost documentary style, there is no plot as such, no heroes` journey that is the staple of Hollywood films à la Christopher Vogler. The viewer is just there to watch events hopelessly unfold and remember why these things happened and what caused them.

Bruno Ganz makes history by becoming the first German-speaking actor to play the role of Adolf Hitler. That is remarkable, although understandable. What is more remarkable is that not long into the film, you don`t feel as if you are watching an actor perform; you really feel as if you are watching the spiralling decay of the real man. Ganz is mesmerising and should have won an Oscar for his performance, portraying the dictator as he should be; a human being. Many people would no doubt prefer that he isn`t portrayed this way at all, but this is undoubtedly how he really was and how the many evil men throughout human history really were as well. As a species we tend to demonise those whose motivations we cannot understand or wish to distance ourselves from.

Ganz`s Hitler is shown as a man who could be friendly, charming and feel real emotion such as betrayal. The latter occurs when one of his closest friends Albert Speer informs him that he ignored Hitler`s orders to destroy Germany`s infrastructure and so condemning the German people to the Middle Ages. The pain on his face when he realises that even his closest friends are turning away is quite powerful, although you never feel any sympathy for the man. Ganz`s Hitler rails against the failings of his own people, echoing Goebbels own beliefs, that the German people have failed him and as such do not deserve to survive the war. He also declares his greatest triumph to be rising against the perceived international Jewish conspiracy and clearing Germany of these people. He doesn`t mention the Final Solution anywhere, but you instinctively know what he is referring to and just want to reach through the screen and throttle him. Hitler is clearly a man losing control of both his health and sanity. We see him afflicted with Parkinsons and railing against his staff who are still disappointingly enthralled by their Führer as he attempts to make plans for non-existant army groups to enter the battle and save Berlin. They know how hopeless the situation is and can see that nothing will save them, but find themselves unable to break free of the oath they swore or the loyalty they feel they owe. Many of them will later take their own lives in what is ultimately a series of futile acts.

There are many disturbing scenes in this film that you would wish were carried out by monsters, but all are carried out by human beings. There are plenty of examples in this film, including the roving punishment squads, but the most chilling is that of Magda Goebbels. She brings her six children into the bunker to support her leader and hopes that he will inspire his country to a final victory. After he decides that the end has arrived and retires with his newly married bride Eva, she throws herself to the floor imploring him to reconsider and leave Berlin for safety. Her concern for her beloved Führer is all too apparent. Compare that then with the calm and collected way in which she conspires with a Nazi doctor to murder her six children. It`s bad enough when Magda is shown enticing her children to take a strong sedative under the guise of preventative medicine, especially when you see the eldest child, Helga, clearly protest as she is vaguely aware that things aren`t quite as they seem. It gets much much worse when you see the mother of six children enter their room and place cyanide capsules in the mouth of each individually whilst they are asleep and push their lower jaw up so that the capsule breaks. The silent almost resigned way each dies does not take away the impact of the shock of seeing the warped mothering instincts of a woman who believes that a world without National Socialism is not a world that her children should live in. Contrast this behaviour with the hysterical rantings of the same woman who collapses under the realisation that her leader is about to kill himself.

This film also shows how far from reality these people drifted and how they simply assumed that things would continue once the war was over. Himmler is shown in the Bunker garage discussing a truce with his adjutant Fegelin. The latter asks why Himmler is sure that Eisenhower and the allies would want to negotiate. Himmler responds that the allies need Himmler and his SS to restore order once the war is over, completely oblivious to the fact that no-one in their right minds would want to use this corrupt and evil organisation for anything, let alone law and order functions. Eva Braun is another who is shown to be completely detached from reality, only this demonstration is more poignant. Braun writes a letter to her sister telling her about the jewellery that she is wearing and will leave to her upon her death. It`s completely banal and self-absorbed, and the director uses the narration of this letter over some heart-rending scenes of devastation in down-town Berlin. The scene showing a young girl soldier ordering her superior, himself only a teenager, to kill her and then in utter confusion and desolation turn the pistol on himself is devastating and raises more questions about how these young people were willing to waste their lives so needlessly.

The one glimmer of hope is portrayed by young Peter Krantz (Donevan Gunia). At the beginning of the film he is shown manning the same artillery position (actually AA position used as artillery) as the two young soldiers mentioned above. He is also a believer and calls his own father a coward when he arrives to persuade the Volkssturm to go home. You then see him in the Bunker grounds being awarded an Iron Cross for taking out two tanks with bazookas. It takes the death of his comrades and a tragic return home for the young boy to return and eventually lead Traudl Junge from danger. Here is the hope for the future.

I recently wrote that the Laurence Rees documentary series should be watched in schools. I would also place this film in the same class, it`s must-see film that educates and stimulates thinking. You obviously wouldn`t be able to show it in schools due to the violence depicted, but it is probably the best film of its type seen so far. It raises a lot of questions, some asked by Traudl Junge herself, who bookends the film with small clips in the same way as Band of Brothers did with airborne veterans. Ganz`s breathtaking performance fleshes out the dictator in a way that no-one has attempted as yet, and the question that should now be reasonably asked is this: how could a nation of people become convinced to follow a flawed leader all the way to their willing destruction?

If we can answer that question in a rational way, we may just stop it ever happening again…