Downfall

The only negative of the film Downfall is its formal aspects. This is not a key and fatal negative, as some "I always have to write something different than the others" reviewers try to prove in their analyses. The director and screenwriters chose as the main narrative perspective "documentary distance" from the story and, adversely, a very expressive approach to the atmosphere. As a result, the dialogues have a austere and non-stylish feel, while the suffocating atmosphere of the bunker is abundantly and impressively complemented by sound effects (silence vs. rumbling), a camera (which sticks to the characters and promotes a claustrophobic and hopeless feeling) and editing (combining the illusion of interiors with naturalism in exteriors). While the expressive component of the film works perfectly, the documentary aspects tend to slip into excessive semi-pathos, multi-wording, and boringly branched dialogues, which, with a certain repetitiveness, take away momentum from the film. Not fatally, of course. The introduction of a "secondary" narrator in the form of Traudl Jung also proved very useful, who mediates a civilian view of the icons of the Third Reich - a civilian view which, in its naivety and blindness, is perhaps the most tragic feature of the film. And Jung's documentary suffix only points him out in all his nudity "...I should have been more interested..." A chilling finish of one of the storylines. But "Downfall" has more storylines, and it must be admitted that director Oliver Hirschbiegel was able to portray them all with certainty and persuasiveness. The result is a film with a raw atmosphere, teasing with questions (which the viewer has to answer for himself), and it is oppressive in that it does not hide anything with the poor decoys of heroic pathos. German cinema successfully passed the state exam in post-war adulthood... (21/01/2006)

A movie that seems more like a documentary that isn’t so much about Hitler’s last days, as about the people around him and his last atrocity committed on his own nation. Certainly worth watching, but if it hadn’t been made by Germans, it would never have caused such a stir (is it really making Hitler seem more human if he thanks his cook for his food?). Even so, it’s good that it was the Germans who filmed it; they need to chase the skeletons out of their closet. (06/05/2005)

The first war film dealing with the conflict from the other side, and also directed by “natives”. There is a certain interest in the material, but it doesn't have any significant impact on the viewer. The script is simple and the actors (although very decent) practically have nothing to rely on. Bruno Ganz stands out, but mainly because seeing Hitler himself on the screen is already a peculiar and unique experience. But Oliver Hirschbiegel didn't excel in terms of visual presentation. The cold visual style doesn't stand out as it should, and the war scenes are quite implausible and poorly edited. (24/09/2005)

Even years later, Downfall is a truly powerful experience. The famous producer Bernd Eichinger cleverly drew on the book "Der Untergang" by Joachim Fest and the memoirs of Hitler's youngest secretary Traudl Junge, published under the title "Until the Final Hour: Hitler's Last Secretary." After all, Junge's confession frames the whole story of the last days of the Third Reich. And although she did not live to see the premiere of the film, her memories of her years at the Führer's side were the subject of a separate documentary Blind Spot. Hitler's Secretary. Thanks to this material, the resulting film is a much deeper and more plastic account of the end of a millennial empire that lasted only 12 years and yet never ceases to fascinate and is important to study in every detail. We follow so many important questions and paradoxes scene by scene, meeting once again those infamous figures of history. The cast is very interesting, for example Eva Braun - she was 33 at the time of her death, but played by almost 40-year-old Juliane Köhler (known from Aimee & Jaguar). And despite this handicap, she became a very authentic Mrs. Hitler. Magda Goebbels is a slightly different case - she was 44 at the time of her death, her character is 6 years older than Corinna Harfouch (famous as Vera Brühne), and her actions spoke for her more than her acting. Bruno Ganz (one of the best Hitlers) and Alexandra Maria Lara (Traudl Junge) are practically ideal representatives. (18/01/2020)

The roaring protagonist Ganz may look like Hitler, but that's not enough for a good movie. After the first half hour, all the dramatic unrest or sadness of the supporting characters starts to play out lightly, and the final catharsis doesn't have time to fix anything. In the end, the war film crystallizes into a dramatic journey through the history of Germany, accompanied by confused editing and a sense of a (non)eventful film that was only talked about from a thematic standpoint. (05/05/2006)