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Downfall Movie Review

Downfall is a 2004 German historical drama film directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel and starring Bruno Ganz. It’s a tremendous film.

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“In a war as such,

there are no civilians“

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Set in Berlin 1945, it depicts the last days of Hitler and the rest of the Nazis as the Russians conquer the city. This is a very interesting subject matter. Yes, it’s a World War II movie, but unlike other films depicting this war, this one focuses particularly on Hitler and Nazis as they spiraled out of control and neared their end. Thus, the movie can be seen out of context as a very suspenseful thriller drama that is all about the destruction of one terrible cultural legacy.

However, this is still a historical drama first and foremost, and a highly meticulous in details, very historically accurate one indeed. There is a lot to unpack here, so let’s try to at least deal with some of its themes and people of interest. First and foremost, Hitler himself. Yes, in a couple of scenes you can get the idea that the film humanizes Hitler, and that shaking hand scene irked me undoubtedly.

However, the movie accurately portrays how a man in his position would react during an impending doom, and the movie never at all really humanized him or validated any of his actions. Quite the contrary, Hitler here is portrayed as a highly aggressive, tempestuous, hateful monster that he really was. The depiction of anti-Semitism is excellent as he didn’t really deem them inferior, but he strongly feared Jews and their influence in society, especially economically. That was very accurately portrayed as was his extreme narcissism and ultimate disdain for his own people.

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What I particularly found interesting here is the depiction of loyalty and betrayal. The movie deals with betrayal thoroughly as we see Hitler accuse everybody of such an act, and the consequences for betraying him too. The film also very realistically showcased his staggering grip on his followers. On the one hand, he was a skilled orator and manipulator, so some of his Nazis were manipulated for sure, but on the other hand, some of his people, especially the women, were so naïve, foolish and impressionable that their allegiance was never in question.

That brings me to Eva Braun. She truly was a very unintelligent woman, painfully so in fact. Her loyalty toward her husband was dumbfounded, which made for a very complicated, toxic relationship between the two. The same should be said for most of the women in this circle. Joseph and Magda Goebbels were truly monstrous as the scene depicting the murder of all six of their children so painfully illustrates. All of the other infamous Nazis are incredibly well depicted, accurately and with a lot of detail and so well thought-out.

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As for the performances, the movie is brilliantly acted across the board. Corianna Harfouch and Lurich Matthes are chilling as the Gobbels’ while Alexandra Maria Lara is commendable as the very memorable Traudl Junge upon whose stories this movie was based on. Julianne Kohler was also terrific as Eva Braun. However, I wasn’t personally thrilled with the work of Bruno Ganz. Yes, he is mostly excellent and quite believable as Adolf Hitler, but oftentimes his angry outbursts felt overly theatrical. I do realize that did act like that while giving speeches, but still this was almost like a parody in a way, which is the reason why it became so popular on the Internet.

Downfall unfortunately brushed aside the issue of concentration camps and hatred toward minorities. Those were only addressed in a couple of scenes, thus his atrocities were sorely lacking in depiction. Still, most people already know about his horrendous actions, which is why the filmmakers chose to focus more on recreating the Fall of Berlin and the entire time spent in the bunkers.

Downfall’s technical aspects are magnificent. The direction from Oliver Hirschbiegel is fantastic, the acting is great and the cinematography is excellent. The movie’s sets and costumes looked authentic for its time period and some imagery is highly menacing, brutal and/or heartbreaking. I also found the film’s pacing absolutely fabulous as this is one of the rare historical flicks that held my utter attention completely despite its very long runtime. It’s incredibly engaging, which is its biggest strength without any doubt.

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Accurately depicting Hitler’s behavior and speeches as well as a tremendously firm grip that he had on his subordinates, Downfall painfully showcases the extreme loyalty that was present among the Nazi ranks. This is a film that above all else acts like a one of a kind time capsule as it so meticulously, accurately and truthfully portrays most of the events surrounding the Fall of Berlin and Hitler’s last days up to his suicide, thus giving us a glimpse at the utter chaos and despair that must have been felt leading up to the demise of one of history’s most heinous parties. Most of the acting performances are fantastic, though Bruno Ganz could be too over-the-top in certain patches. Downfall is also superbly directed, shot and filled with many suspenseful, instantly memorable sequences. Its pacing is also excellent, making it one of the most engaging, often even riveting historical pictures.

My Rating – 4.5

You can get Downfall on Amazon.