This is a powerful movie. One of the best war movies i have ever seen. The hopelessness of the situation during those last 10 days of probably the most hated man in the history of the world is almost heartbreaking.

Bruno Ganz plays the part of Adolf Hitler perfectly. What we see is a broken man whose plans and dreams are shattered while he tries to hold on to them until the bitter end.

This movie is not pro-nazi nor does it depict them as the monsters everyone says they are. What we see is the war from their side, in utter realism. In the end they are all just people who by their own choice or by force were sucked into a horrible war.

What Traudl Junge (the secretary) said was really moving. Even though she was young and she didn't know better she could have. At the same age as her another German woman by the name Sophie Scholl was rebelling against what the Nazi's were doing. Years ago i found a single page comic that perfectly tells the story of that there is a line between standing up for yourself and what you believe in and going along with what everybody else is doing. I encourage everyone to read this comic.

http://www.viruscomix.com/page474.html

This film depicts the last days of Nazi Germany when the Soviet army was 15 km from Hitler’s bunker Fuhrerbunker. Most WW2 movies focus on the battles from a soldier’s perspective, but this is from the perspective of Hitler’s secretary, Traudl Junge. She was still alive in 2002 and talked about events surrounding the last days of battle for Berlin before the suicides by Hitler and his mistress (wife then) Eva Braun. Most events are historically accurate based on all accounts, including from Junge’s autobiography.

The film captured a sense of realism through its dark, gritty atmosphere, direction, acting, and cinematography. To prepare, the actor (Bruno Ganz) playing Hitler studied the literature, accounts, and surviving media surrounding Hitler, including a recording of his normal talking tone away from cameras. Hitler didn’t allow such recordings, but Finnish secret agents recorded a private conversation in 1942 for later study. All other recordings were of his public speeches, which is not how he talked or behaved in private. Ganz also studied Parkinson’s patients to get an idea of Hitler, who had Parkinson’s. Some scenes were cold and brutal to watch but factual, including a scene by Nazi fanatic Magda Goebbels (wife of Nazi propaganda minister Goebbels) murdering her six children over her fear of living in a world without Nazism. Another is a scene of Hitler moving around pieces representing his army divisions on a map. His generals were too scared to tell him the armies were no more. Once a fanatic accepts belief in an ideal or an individual, they cannot exist outside it.

The scariest lesson is one can be a monster while completely human, as we saw here. I think it’s letting Hitler off the hook to pretend he was some peculiar demon or just a lunatic who had lost control of himself. It’s only when you realize Hitler was human and in complete control of his faculties to his final breath that the real horrors begin. The truth is villains are not anything other than human, the worst of humanity. The difference here is power dynamics and Germans enabling his bigotry and hatred by falling prey to his frantic fanaticism. History, time and time again going back to the first civilizations, teaches us Hitler is what you get when you combine the worst of humanity with absolute power. It should make us wary of those seeking absolute power while claiming to be above the laws. Power allows humanity’s worst villains to come creeping to the surface. The best AND the worst in humanity lies within humanity itself. There is a constant battle waging within each of us, one between love & hate, joy & misery, peace & fury, courage & fear, and order & chaos. We should always be vigilant to keep ourselves and others from falling prey to the worst in us.

Would I recommend this? Yes. The film is in German, but the subtitles are adequate. It’s difficult to watch, but I think it’s important to understand what fanatical hate and blind devotion to an idea/individual left unchecked can do to people.

**_Hitler’s end_**

As the Red Army encroaches upon Berlin in late April, 1945, the final days of Hitler in his bunker (Bruno Ganz) are told from the perspective of his secretary, Traudl Junge (Alexandra Maria Lara).

"Downfall” (2004) is not a conventional war movie due to its downbeat subject and is more educational than entertaining, but it’s a necessary piece of the puzzle in understanding WW2. If you appreciate movies like "Enemy at the Gates" (2001), "The Pianist" (2002), "Black Book" (2006), "Valkyrie" (2008), "Rommel" (2012), "Warsaw '44" (2014) and "Fury" (2014), you’ll appreciate this one too.

It's hard to rate a flick like this because it’s not an enjoyable experience, but it works superbly as means to go back in history and view Hitler’s final days.

The film runs 2 hours, 36 minutes, and was shot in Germany (Berlin, Munich and Bavaria Studios) and Russia (St. Petersburg).

GRADE: B