Downfall

The subject of Adolf Hitler looms large over the 20th Century. Downfall is the second serious film made about the notorious Chancellor. The first, a cultural study, was Syderberg's Hitler, A Film From Germany. Downfall is the necessary personal film about Hitler. Set during the final ten days of the Nazi regime, the film looks into Hitler's last days as he agonizes over lost battles and momentum shifting the other way in the war. Bruno Ganz plays Hitler as a man who can be compasssionate to the people closest to him but of control when reeling in anger after hearing news of continuous losses in battles. The film also shows the fate and last breaths of a cast of historically infamous people. The film makes the fall of Berlin a large project of realism for everyone involved. Hitler A Film From Germany cast a light on the unrecognized influence of Hitler around the rest of the world. Downfall casts a light on the personal side of Adolf Hitler and his cohorts. This is important because many people refuse to acknowledge the human side of what is considered pure evil. The film doesn't try to make meaning out of Hitler's mystique, but it does try to personalize him. The other major realist film of the time was United 93. It focused on the last hours of a fateful event, but that film focused so intently on the hijack that it was trying to make a hostage scenario a telling event for our history. It has importance, but doesn't doesn't encompass 9/11 or the War on Terror. It's an easy story to scare the audience and make a sad subject tragic. Downfall takes on the large breath of life in Berlin and focuses on those who have been cast in the shadows due to our uncomfortability. The film is a wholly re-imagined view of the swirling events surrounding Berlin at the time. It is an important recreation of history. The regrettable aspect is that some lesser stories in the film try to be comment on the problems of the war. The comments are superficial and break away from the wonderful realism of the story.