Genre: War, Drama, World War II, Doctor, Biography, Experimental, Murder, Marriage
Plot: When writer-producer Bernd Eichinger read the galleys of historian Joachim Fest's book "Der Untergang" ("The Downfall: Inside Hitler's Bunker, The Last Days of the Third Reich"), he knew he had found the dramatic key to a film he had wanted to make for decades, but never thought possible due to its scope. Fest's book focuses on the final days of the Reich, and Eichinger saw that the horrifying epic of Hitler and his people during his twelve years in power was reflected in those last twelve days in the bunker. "The final days tell us a lot about how the mass fanaticism functioned in the regime's earlier years and how it continued to reign until the bitter end," says Eichinger.Eichinger read another very important book around the same time: the memoirs of Traudl Junge, Hitler's private secretary ("Until the Final Hour: Hitler's Last Secretary"). He recounts, "Fest gave me the time frame, Traudl Junge gave me the character who could hold it all together." DOWNFALL is the first German film to broach the subject of Hitler straight-on since G.W. Pabst's 1956 film "DER LETSTE AKT" ("The Last Act") which was told from the point of view of an ordinary German soldier, played by Oskar Werner. Says director Oliver Hirschbiegel, "In terms of German film history, we are breaking new ground
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 Downfall is a windfall for anyone who, like me, is fascinated by stories from World War II. The first internationally released German production to feature Hitler as a central figure,...  --James Berardinelli (ReelViews)
If the film has a weakness it is that it concentrates too much on what is happening in the bunker. 9/10--Mark R. Leeper
Stay in your seats after Hitler bites the cyanide. The film is only about two-thirds over. Some of the best is yet to come especially the scene that will cause nightmares to anyone with a gram of sensitivity–the administration of poison to the five or six Goebbels kids by their own mutter dear. A---Harvey S. Karten
You may want to keep a copy of "Toy Story 2" close by for when "Downfall" comes to a close. It's a seriously fascinating and technically brilliant film...but 'fun-time' it surely is not.  --Scott Weinberg (eFilmCritic.com)
"Downfall" is a spine-chilling experience, a masterpiece of filmmaking and a document which conclusively damns the repetition of its history. A+--Laura Clifford
‘Der Untergang’, about Hitler’s last days in power and in life, has a good possibility to become one of the classic Word War Two films of all time. Not only are we watching great performances from a great script, ‘Der Untergang’ is also technically very slick with incredible sets, lighting, sound and costumes and with very scrupulous editing and direction. It is as close to being in the bunker oneself as one can get and that is meant as a compliment.  --Boyd van Hoeij
I wish I could write something like, "This film ought to have been called Cure for an Insomniac," but Dream for an Insomniac is not so much boring as it is insufferable. F--Carlo Cavagna (AboutFilm.com)
It's the well-wrought details that explain, perhaps better than any earlier film, how an entire country bought into Hitler's genocidal madness. --Lou Lumenick (New York Post)
...Downfall does not do enough to make one believe the bunker was both the last redoubt of Nazi ideological strength and the clearest sign of its imminent doom. C---Daniel Kasman
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 | Bruno Ganz
The Sky Above Berlin, Nosferatu the Vampyre, Bread and Tulips | | Corinna Harfouch
Elementarteilchen, C, Erkan & Stefan gegen die Mächte der Finsternis | | | | |
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| Sure, some things about World War II have been overdone. Clearly there is a surfeit of films about the Holocaust and Hitler’s bunker. But even if you have had your fill of these films, “Downfall” is one not to be missed. 10/10 --Tony Medley
"Downfall" is a spine-chilling experience, a masterpiece of filmmaking and a document which conclusively damns the repetition of its history. A+--Laura Clifford
Downfall encompasses so much more than the brief window of time it depicts. A--Carlo Cavagna (AboutFilm.com)
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