Claustrophobic, tense and often riveting, Downfall traps us in Hitler's bunker during the final days of the Third Reich. As the Allies advance on Berlin and the Führer's empire crumbles, lead actor Bruno Ganz gives the great dictator a human face as he struggles with the onset of Parkinson's disease and prepares to take his own life. Controversial in its native Germany, Oliver Hirschbiegel's meticulous film is no sensational shockfest, but a living, breathing historical recreation of Hitler's downfall.

Based on the memoirs of Nazi secretary Traudl Junge - who told her story in the compelling doc Blind Spot, Downfall begins with Junge arriving at the bunker. From there it moves outwards, taking in the army's chaotic attempts to defend the capital while, in the rabbit warren of concrete corridors that make up the bunker, Hitler and his closest advisors lose their grip on power and reality.

"GANZ GIVES A CAPTIVATING PERFORMANCE"

Ganz, who studied Parkinson's patients to play the ailing Führer, gives a captivating performance equal even to Anthony Hopkins' classic turn in 1981's The Bunker. Raging one minute, then kindly the next, he's definitely a monster - but a human one, which makes him all the more terrifying. The rest of the bunker's cast of grotesques are equally fascinating: wild-eyed Eva Braun (Juliane Köhler) dances on tables and embraces death with a grin and a giggle; Goebbels (Ulrich Matthes) arranges for his children to be killed. A macabre fly-on-the-wall reconstruction, Downfall is as close as anyone will ever get to recreating Hitler's last moments.

Taken from http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2005/02/17/down...05_review.shtml (http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2005/02/17/downfall_2005_review.shtml)


Has anyone seen this film? I think it's one of the best WW2 films ever, because it shows something different than heroic American and heroic British soldiers for a change (not saying anything's wrong with that but it's nice to have something different in a while ;) )

Too bad Russia is still gonna be the Bad Guy #1... <_<

Not really, that&#39;s one of the other things I liked about this film, the Russians aren&#39;t portrayed as inhuman monsters either. In fact, near the end of a film you see the Russian soldiers dancing around the place and celebrating their victory.

hi&#33;

I see this film in the cinema&#33;(With my class) :D
I like it, but some scene its shows to terrible thinks. Like:german people kill they self, because they lose the battle &#33;
But they show it very reality&#33;

Show spoiler (javascript:void(0);)<span style="display: none;" id="QUOTE"> Ah yes, the part where a soldier is sitting on a bench talking to someone and then suddenly grabbing his gun and blowing his own brain out shocked me Oo; just didn&#39;t see that coming. </span>

^ thats a spoiler :(

Not really, there are more than one soldier on benches but I&#39;ll put it in spoiler tags anyway XP