The view inside Hitler's bunker is a hauntingly memorable one.
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Based on the books "Inside Hitler's Bunker" by Joachim Fest and "Until the Final Hour" (a.k.a."Till the Last Minute"), which was co-written by Hitler's secretary, Traudl Junge, "Downfall" doesn't overtly explore the causes behind the fall of the Third Reich. But it more than memorably captures the last 10 days of Hitler and his inner circle in a way that's normally only achieved through home movies. And with this intimate portrait, we begin to develop some sense of the political machinations as well.
For that, you have to partially credit director Oliver Hirschbiegel, who opted for a self-effacing camera style and equally unobtrusive editing. His insistence on realism—on recreating a bunker that was as historically accurate as possible—led to his having to use a hand-held camera in tight quarters a good deal of the time, which also contributed to the unscripted feel that the film has.
But you have to give a lion's share of the credit to the film's primary stars, Bruno Ganz as der Führer, and Alexandra Maria Lara as the secretary through whose eyes we see Germany's troubled and troubling leader. Their penetrating and soulful performances humanize figures that could have been treated more monster-like, in the case of Hitler, and more robot-like, in the case of Hitler's followers. Guided by Hirschbiegel's objective direction, the actors are able to convey complex characters and situations—ones which ultimately leave viewers to draw their own conclusions and react accordingly.
It begins in the manner of "Little Big Man" and "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pitman," with the real, elderly Junge interviewed on film and wondering aloud how she could have become involved with a man who has since become the undisputed villain of the century.
Then it's flashback mode, and from the first one, when we watch five young women being escorted in darkness past guards and through thick woods to reach Hitler's secret "Wolfsschanze" headquarters in East Prussia, a sense of voyeurism is established which carries us, mesmerized, throughout this 155-minute film.
After that opening scene in November, 1942 which shows Hitler choosing the 22-year-old Munich girl over four others to be his private secretary, we jump ahead two and a half years to April 20, 1945, Hitler's 56th birthday. It's not a happy one. The Russians are closing in on Berlin, and eight days later his Italian counterpart, Benito Mussolini, would be shot to death and Il Duce's body mutilated and hung on public display. Just two days after that, Hitler and his mistress, Eva Braun, would commit suicide and have their bodies burned to avoid a similar fate. And on May 2, 1945, remaining officers from Hitler's high command would surrender to the Russian and Ukrainian armies, which would lead to a domino chain of surrenders across Europe and President Truman's May 8 proclamation of "V-E Day." It's a well-known story, and yet, to observe the Third Reich simultaneously implode and explode from the perspective of someone close to Hitler is to see a side of the war that had been denied us by newsreels and countless documentaries. The view inside Hitler's bunker is a hauntingly memorable one.
Learning that the Russians are just 12 kilometers from the city center, Hitler explodes into one of his frightening tirades—like Darth Vader, impatient with his generals and quick to pronounce death sentences for all who fail. "Why didn't anyone tell me?" he sputters, though the reason is fairly obvious. We watch intently as Hitler puts "Clausewitz" into play, making Berlin a front-line city. "I must force an outcome in Berlin, or face my downfall," he says, hence the film's title. We watch as the confusion mounts, with advisers urging retreat and Hitler refusing, insisting instead that they destroy all electrical plants, fuel depots, water supplies, coal, and transportation hubs, so that the advancing Russians will find nothing they can use. The generals, of course, are incredulous. "To destroy all that would destroy the German people." But Hitler, unmoved, says, "The nation is weak. And the weak must die."
Whether it's watching Eva Braun (Juliane Kohler) grab the other women in the bunker and rush, defiantly, upstairs to drink and dance amid the explosions, seeing members of Hitler's so-called Children's Army play hide and seek in the rubble while taking out Russian tanks with anti-tank guns, or witnessing the most disturbing moments in this film as Magda Goebbels (Corinna Harfouch) systematically kills her children, we see in "Downfall" the contradictory aspects of human nature. There is frail human vulnerability here, and ironically also inexplicably inhumane behavior. This powerful film, which earned an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film, is rated "R" for strong violence, disturbing images, and some nudity.
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