Rating: 1/2
by Derek Smith 7/17/05

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The persona of Adolph Hitler has grown to such mythical proportions over the past 60 years that it has long been impossible to imagine him as a man; a living, breathing human being who grew into one of the most evil men who has ever lived.  By focusing almost entirely on the last days and weeks of Hitler's life, Downfall takes on the unenviable task of portraying him as a man, rather than a caricature or parody as the norm has dictated.  Holed up in a bunker with only his most loyal servants and military leaders as the inevitable crumbling of the Third Reich comes about, we are witness to the Nazi mindset, their intense belief in National Socialism as the only future worth living in, and the psychosis that drives them to stay in Berlin and commit further atrocities in the name of honor and duty.

Bruno Ganz's inspired performance as Hitler not only captures all of the anger and confusion as he watches his empire topple, but the human side that's never, to my knowledge, been fully explored before on film.  Seeing him as someone capable of being in a relationship or caring for those who were loyal to him brings conflict to the knee-jerk tendency to equate him with the purest evil and move on without a second thought.  This is not to suggest that Downfall in anyway glorifies Hitler or attempts to sympathize with these, his most trouble times, but that presenting these people and situations as true and real makes it something that can be dealt with and discussed in useful ways.  These were actual people, trusted and supported by the public, who were able to murder millions of people and nearly conquer the world and although denial is more comforting, it is not impossible for history to repeat itself.

Oliver Hirschbiegel films the bunker as an extension of the Nazi's contradictions - the huge, decadent parties show a refusal to come to terms with their defeat, perhaps a way of temporarily escaping the entrapment of their surroundings, but more importantly a denial of their reality and another attempt to shape the world into their liking.  If the film has a flaw, it is its insistence in portraying Hitler's secretary, Traudl Hunge, as a saint amongst demons.  Hunge is responsible for bringing about many of the unknown stories of Hitler's last weeks and has admitted that being young and naive is no excuse for not trying to do more to unmask the Third Reich's future plans.  Despite this, the film presents her as a little girl, innocent because of her ignorance, and, in the end, heroic because of her escape.  It is a small problem in a film that otherwise effectively tackles much larger issues, but it's a distraction that could have been avoided.  At the end of the day, Downfall brings up a number of interesting issues and gives plenty of food for thought for dealing with the Third Reich as a culmination of human ideas and beliefs and something that must be dealt with on those terms.