Casual Critic Mini Reviews

Der Untergang (The Downfall) (Germany/Italy/Austria) (Newmarket Films) (2004) *****Year: 2004iMDB

Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel Cast: Bruno Ganz, Alexandra Maria Lara, Corinna Harfouch, Ulrich Matthes, Juliane Köhler

Der Untergang recreates the last few days of the 3rd Reich, viewed from inside Hitler's bunker in Berlin, as the Russian army was imminently taking over the city. Based primarily on the recollections of Traudl Junge (Alexandra Maria Lara) one of Hitler's personal secretaries who was in the bunker up until after he commits suicide, The Downfall manages to construct the most pluri-dimensional portrayal of the German leadership and of Hitler himself.

While some find fault in the fact that, at times, Hitler's portrayal is too human, almost inspiring sympathy, this is actually where the greatest strength of the movie lies. Too many movies dealing with the WWII choose to sketch the German leaders as comic-book bad guys that only yell and kill, while the heroes are those that have families waiting for them at home, and believe in higher values, etc. The most shocking aspect of the movie is that it makes the viewer realize that Hitler and his high superiors were not alien conquerors that almost took over the world, but rather regular humans in a lot of aspects. It his Hitler's genuine love for his dog, his courteous manner with his secretaries and support staff, Goebbels' family life with four kids, and other aspects like this that made the expansion of the Nazi regime possible to the extent it did, enlisting the support of young people who bought the ideals preached by such leaders.

There is no mistake made however in the portrayal of Hitler, Goebbels, Himmler, Speer or Eva Braun. Hitler shows his rage-attacks, his inability to accept the reality of a defeat until the last moment, his firm believe that the german civilians are at fault for this defeat and that their deaths in the attack on Berlin are thoroughly deserved. Similarly he wants to court-martial any German official that would attempt to initiate peace talks with the Allies. Goebbels wife would rather kill her four young kids herself rather than have them grow up in a world without the National Socialist Party. Eva Braun is starting wild parties amidst falling bombs trying to ignore the reality that surrounded her.

Junge, 25 years old at the time, managed to escape trial and accusations after the war, but avoided to openly discuss her role during that time until many decades later, the most important being the 2002 documentary Blind Spot, filmed just months before Junge's death. Sequences from the documentary preface and conclude the movie, Junge's words being a true memento of the scope of the war, its wounds, its madness from within. One of the most important movies of the recent decade.