Downfall
starring: Bruno Ganz, Alexandra Maria Lara, Ulrich Matthes, Juliane Köhler, Corinna Harfouch
directed by: Oliver Hirschbiegel
directed by: Oliver Hirschbiegel
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Product Description:
This takes you into hitlers bunker during the brutal & terrifying last days of the third reich.Studio: Sony Pictures Home EntRelease Date: 04/24/2007Starring: Bruno Ganz Julianne KohlerRun time: 155 minutesRating: R
Amazon.com:
The riveting subject of Downfall is nothing less than the disintegration of Adolf Hitler in mind, body, and soul. A 2005 Academy Award nominee for best foreign language film, this German historical drama stars Bruno Ganz (Wings of Desire) as Hitler, whose psychic meltdown is depicted in sobering detail, suggesting a fallen, pathetic dictator on the verge on insanity, resorting to suicide (along with Eva Braun and Joseph and Magda Goebbels) as his Nazi empire burns amidst chaos in mid-1945. While staging most of the film in the claustrophobic bunker where Hitler spent his final days, director Oliver Hirschbiegel (Das Experiment) dares to show the gentler human side of der Fuehrer, as opposed to the pure embodiment of evil so familiar from many other Nazi-era dramas. This balanced portrayal does not inspire sympathy, however: We simply see the complexity of Hitler's character in the greater context of his inevitable downfall, and a more realistic (and therefore more horrifying) biographical portrait of madness on both epic and intimate scales. By ending with a chilling clip from the 2002 documentary Blind Spot: Hitler's Secretary, this unforgettable film gains another dimension of sobering authenticity. --Jeff Shannon
This takes you into hitlers bunker during the brutal & terrifying last days of the third reich.Studio: Sony Pictures Home EntRelease Date: 04/24/2007Starring: Bruno Ganz Julianne KohlerRun time: 155 minutesRating: R
Amazon.com:
The riveting subject of Downfall is nothing less than the disintegration of Adolf Hitler in mind, body, and soul. A 2005 Academy Award nominee for best foreign language film, this German historical drama stars Bruno Ganz (Wings of Desire) as Hitler, whose psychic meltdown is depicted in sobering detail, suggesting a fallen, pathetic dictator on the verge on insanity, resorting to suicide (along with Eva Braun and Joseph and Magda Goebbels) as his Nazi empire burns amidst chaos in mid-1945. While staging most of the film in the claustrophobic bunker where Hitler spent his final days, director Oliver Hirschbiegel (Das Experiment) dares to show the gentler human side of der Fuehrer, as opposed to the pure embodiment of evil so familiar from many other Nazi-era dramas. This balanced portrayal does not inspire sympathy, however: We simply see the complexity of Hitler's character in the greater context of his inevitable downfall, and a more realistic (and therefore more horrifying) biographical portrait of madness on both epic and intimate scales. By ending with a chilling clip from the 2002 documentary Blind Spot: Hitler's Secretary, this unforgettable film gains another dimension of sobering authenticity. --Jeff Shannon
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: 
- Not the Whole Story
An important film for anyone interested in WWII, the Nazis, or the psychology of a group of trapped guilty rats.I note that while Hitler rants, as each bit of bad news arrives, that his generals (who are in the thick of battle) are cowards and "lazybones", his own response is to kill himself to avoid capture.
The makers of the film went to great lengths to achieve accuracy, but much was left out regarding the personalities of some.Goebbels for example seems the idealistic family ... Read More
Rating: 
- Great piece of history put on film!
Great movie!Usually when Hollywood gets their hands on a true story, they twist it and distort it until you can't tell the difference between fact and fiction.In this case, the story is told as straight forward and without "churching" up the truth.I mean face it, any point in time during the war was full of enough action, drama, suspense, and intrigue to not have to change it one bit in order to make it a good movie or book.The acting was great.Bruno Ganz (Hitler) was the perfect choice for ... Read More
Rating: - The Best of the four Bunker films...
Depicting the last twelve days of Adolf Hitler and his Third Reich, the movie is much more graphic and realistic then the other three films: "The Death of Adolf Hitler", "Hitler: The Last Ten Days" and "The Bunker." Events here are shown from different points of view. The portrayal of Hitler (Bruno Ganz) is the most balanced and least prone to dramatic effects. Most all of the major players are shown but, the portrayal of Bormann is too weak; furthermore, Dr. Morell and scenes of his "treatments/injections" ... Read More
Rating: - "The German people have chosen their fate . . ."
Das Boot is still my favorite war film, but Downfall is just as great. Thisfilm, which deals with the last days of Hitler and the Reich, is something that we aren't really accustomed to these days. Like Das Boot, we get to see the German P.O.V. rather than the American/British/Russian, only here it is a bit more striking because it involves the notorious dictator himself. We get to see his ruthless paranoia and isolation as Russian forces are gaining victory around Berlin. We also get to see the people around ... Read More
Rating: - A Powerful Movie
I first saw this movie in the theater a year or two ago. I was very impressed with it at that time. Then when the DVD came out on Amazon I decided that I needed to by it for my collection. It is the definitive record of the final days of Nazi Germany and Adolph Hitler. Even though Germany was our enemy and a criminal regime there were many people in Germany that were ordanary decent people. This movie really brings home the total tragedy of unrestricted warfare. The movie has great realism and the buildings and ... Read More
- Not the Whole StoryAn important film for anyone interested in WWII, the Nazis, or the psychology of a group of trapped guilty rats.I note that while Hitler rants, as each bit of bad news arrives, that his generals (who are in the thick of battle) are cowards and "lazybones", his own response is to kill himself to avoid capture.
The makers of the film went to great lengths to achieve accuracy, but much was left out regarding the personalities of some.Goebbels for example seems the idealistic family ... Read More
- Great piece of history put on film!Great movie!Usually when Hollywood gets their hands on a true story, they twist it and distort it until you can't tell the difference between fact and fiction.In this case, the story is told as straight forward and without "churching" up the truth.I mean face it, any point in time during the war was full of enough action, drama, suspense, and intrigue to not have to change it one bit in order to make it a good movie or book.The acting was great.Bruno Ganz (Hitler) was the perfect choice for ... Read More
- The Best of the four Bunker films...Depicting the last twelve days of Adolf Hitler and his Third Reich, the movie is much more graphic and realistic then the other three films: "The Death of Adolf Hitler", "Hitler: The Last Ten Days" and "The Bunker." Events here are shown from different points of view. The portrayal of Hitler (Bruno Ganz) is the most balanced and least prone to dramatic effects. Most all of the major players are shown but, the portrayal of Bormann is too weak; furthermore, Dr. Morell and scenes of his "treatments/injections" ... Read More
- "The German people have chosen their fate . . ."Das Boot is still my favorite war film, but Downfall is just as great. Thisfilm, which deals with the last days of Hitler and the Reich, is something that we aren't really accustomed to these days. Like Das Boot, we get to see the German P.O.V. rather than the American/British/Russian, only here it is a bit more striking because it involves the notorious dictator himself. We get to see his ruthless paranoia and isolation as Russian forces are gaining victory around Berlin. We also get to see the people around ... Read More
- A Powerful MovieI first saw this movie in the theater a year or two ago. I was very impressed with it at that time. Then when the DVD came out on Amazon I decided that I needed to by it for my collection. It is the definitive record of the final days of Nazi Germany and Adolph Hitler. Even though Germany was our enemy and a criminal regime there were many people in Germany that were ordanary decent people. This movie really brings home the total tragedy of unrestricted warfare. The movie has great realism and the buildings and ... Read More
