| Downfall | 
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Avg. Customer Rating:   (based on 363 reviews)
Sales Rank: 1352
Category: DVD
Actors: Bruno Ganz, Alexandra Maria Lara, Corinna Harfouch, Ulrich Matthes, Juliane Koehler
Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel
Publisher: Sony Pictures
Studio: Sony Pictures
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
Label: Sony Pictures
Format: Ac-3, Color, Dolby, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Ntsc
Languages: English (Subtitled), German (Original Language), Russian (Original Language)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD
Running Time: 155 minutes
Number Of Items: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: D11545D
ISBN: 1404987606
UPC: 043396115453
EAN: 9781404987609
ASIN: B0009RCPUC
Release Date: August 2, 2005
Theatrical Release Date: 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com
The riveting subject of Downfall is nothing less than the disintegration of Adolf Hitler in mind, body, and soul. A 2005 Academy Award nominee for best foreign language film, this German historical drama stars Bruno Ganz (Wings of Desire) as Hitler, whose psychic meltdown is depicted in sobering detail, suggesting a fallen, pathetic dictator on the verge on insanity, resorting to suicide (along with Eva Braun and Joseph and Magda Goebbels) as his Nazi empire burns amidst chaos in mid-1945. While staging most of the film in the claustrophobic bunker where Hitler spent his final days, director Oliver Hirschbiegel (Das Experiment) dares to show the gentler human side of der Fuehrer, as opposed to the pure embodiment of evil so familiar from many other Nazi-era dramas. This balanced portrayal does not inspire sympathy, however: We simply see the complexity of Hitler's character in the greater context of his inevitable downfall, and a more realistic (and therefore more horrifying) biographical portrait of madness on both epic and intimate scales. By ending with a chilling clip from the 2002 documentary Blind Spot: Hitler's Secretary, this unforgettable film gains another dimension of sobering authenticity. --Jeff Shannon
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| Customer Reviews: Read 358 more reviews...
 Fuhrer Trapped In Refrigerator Eats Own Foot October 1, 2008
This is an important film. It had to be done: the fascinating and terrible story of the final moments of the Third Reich, told by Germans as a kind of artistic therapy. Major pluses include the boldly dispassionate approach- humanizing historical figures who aren't generally seen as human; the non-hysterical examination of a highly emotional subject; the great historical accuracy and attention to detail, and perhaps most of all, the showcase of excellent performances, beginning with the phenomenal work of Bruno Ganz as Hitler.
A minus is the slight self-consciousness of it all, which may not have been avoidable. Hitler's descent into delusion, which was complete before the events of this film, is often met here by other characters- his rabid followers- with nervous glances and raised eyebrows (implying "My God, he's lost it!") that almost amount to a breach of the fourth wall. The Fuhrer's anti-Semitic tirades seem to provoke the same sort of nervous indulgence, which simply isn't believable. Even at the end, Hitler was not the funny uncle he seems to be greeted as- in just a few places- here. These people were all still in that boat with him in 1945, and still rowing. (Some of his Generals were a notable exception, as depicted, but I refer to the inner circle).
Again, it's understandable if this German film occasionally carries a note of unspoken apology, but I think the aim was slightly higher than the realization in that regard. In fact, the central issue of collective guilt isn't really resolved here at all.
In terms of direction, the idea of keeping things mainly in the eye-level point of view of a few everyman characters is also a valid one, but it costs the film some power. Hitler's death, for example, is not explicitly shown, but feels like it needed to be.
The tension that should result from such a claustrophobic and stifling environment, with death closing in from every direction, could have been heightened considerably. The lost opportunities in direction and editing are filled by the amazing story itself, wonderful performances, and the perceptible passion and integrity that attended this production at every level.
This is a must see for what it is.
Engaging, Fantastic Story of Hitler's Fall September 28, 2008
I never knew Hitler was a vegetarian, but that is just the tip of the iceberg of information this film delivers in a finely acted and superb screenplay of Hilter's last days in his bunker.
I wouldn't say this is on the top tier of war films(Das Boot, Schindler's List), but it does deliver a riveting account from one of Hitler's secretaries, as one of histories worst war criminals sinks into his own madness of hell.
Recommended for more maturer audiences(subtitles, and a little long in some spots), but it is important to truly understand the mind of a mass murderer, as he takes himself and his followers into their deaths.
 Realistic portrayal of the final days in the bunker. September 20, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
English subtitles with German language dialog give this film an audiophonic realism. Combined with the excellent acting by this German cast, and one gets the "feeling" of watching history play out before your eyes.
I was torn between a superb and well acted glimpse of history and my emotions of unrelentless hatred towards these criminals, cowards and drug addicts responsible for snuffing out the lives of countless millions.
Appropriate for older audiences, probably 18 +. Not appropriate for young children.
Best Hitler film ever? September 10, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
n the annals of film, the greatest screen portrayal of an evil world leader was undoubtedly Anthony Hopkins' 1995 turn as President Richard M. Nixon in Oliver Stone's Nixon. Within five to ten minutes of one's first glimpse of Hopkins- a Brit who looked and sounded nothing like the 37th American President, one almost forgets what the real Nixon looked like. But, now there's a contender who could knock Hopkins off his perch- or at least give him a good fight, and that is Bruno Ganz's turn as Adolf Hitler in the 2004 Academy Award nominated Best Foreign Language Film from Germany, Downfall (Der Untergang- literally The Downfall). What makes this all the more remarkable is that- unlike Nixon, many actors have tried and failed to get into Hitler's skin, including the aforementioned Hopkins, who took on the role in The Bunker (1981). In fact, Ganz is so great at portraying Hitler- and he looks far more like the real Hitler than Hopkins did Nixon, even sans the Chaplinesque mustache and combover, that the film took much criticism for portraying Hitler as a real live human being. Heaven forfend that art contain some reality, or `truth,' as the PC Elitists claim! Ganz is brilliant- from his wild veering between depression and rages, to his jittery nervousness, and a shaking of his hands which, when held behind his body, seem to devolve almost into the claw of a wounded raptor, grasping for anything to steady his older than he looks fifty-six year old form. In fact, Ganz seems to age and literally shrink in size, as he stoops and hunches, with each succeeding scene. Yet, it's the moments of tenderness Hitler shows his fiancee/wife, Eva Braun, his wounded indignation at perceived betrayals, and his timidity toward women, as well as impeccable manners, that really offends the PC. This ability to move a viewer is, of course, the manifestation of the great art of a great artist.
Many big name critics, around the world, though, took the film to task for the most asinine of reasons. The New Yorker's David Denby, a minor thinker, wrote: `As a piece of acting, Ganz's work is not just astounding, it's actually rather moving. But I have doubts about the way his virtuosity has been put to use....We get the point: Hitler was not a supernatural being; he was common clay raised to power by the desire of his followers. But is this observation a sufficient response to what Hitler actually did?' This incredibly idiotic statement, and many other PC comments like it, about film and art in general, are the very reasons I took to writing film criticism. What response could possibly be sufficient to the genocidal crimes of a Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, or King Leopold?.... All in all, Downfall is a movie worth seeing, but it is not one that is `required viewing'- neither for its art nor its historical value. It rises and falls almost solely on Ganz's shoulders. To me, the most affecting moments within come when Hitler willfully denies the reality of his nation's Goetterdammerung, and pretends that this or that general will save the day with a brilliant maneuver, at the last moment, to cut off the Russians, and save the war effort. Anyone watching the recent change of American military leadership in Iraq is familiar with their nation's leader's utter refusal to face stubborn facts, and it's a scary scene- whether or not that leader is a mass murdering psychotic, or merely a clueless frat boy with a God complex. Yet, like many of the other `historical' facts, this intermittent self-delusion is also considered, by most historians, untrue. Hitler is known to have commented after being repulsed at Stalingrad, and also after losing The Battle Of The Bulge, that he knew that an eventual German defeat was unavoidable. These are two more wasted opportunities to core into the man, and these ill wrought fictions- be they of whole characters or scenes with real personages, are ultimately what kill the screenplay. As a side note, it's worth realizing the fact that the Second World War, despite its horrors and nonpareil bodycount, can now be thought of as the last real war `played by the rules' says much of our species.
That Downfall can succeed as a film, despite some bad acting, and a weak screenplay, also says much for the notion that a single great performance, as well as a historically significant and dramatic enough moment, can overcome abundant mediocrity more easily than a work of fiction can. Bruno Ganz is now the definitive film Hitler, but the definitive portrayal of his true downfall has yet to be made. Where is Ingmar Bergman when you really need him?
Mass human destruction was used as Hitler's dream to rule..........He wakes up in time to die. Wow! September 10, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I felt I was really there and the German actors where great and would not have done it any other way.
Mass human destruction was used as Hitler's dream to rule..........He wakes up in time to die. Wow!
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