DownFall: The Last Days of the Nazi Regime

Hitler......your just a loser

For obvious reasons, the idea of a movie about Adolf Hitler made in Germany is bound to send of warning bells to anybody hearing about the idea, particularly in Germany proper. For the last 50 years, Germany has been trying to make sure that everybody understands that the Nazis were a bunch of evil, ruthless, psychotics and that that was a dark part of their history where they were utterly in the wrong and are trying to move on, unlike some people I could mention (Japan, Russia, Serbia, I’m looking at you). Now, Germany’s attempts to prevent neo-nazism are producing mixed results, but they are certainly trying their best to make sure everybody remembers the Nazis as what they were, genocidal despots. Now, coming from a family of history buffs and having a German Aunt, I’ve read a lot about the Nazis and what they did, how they worked and who they were. So I know that the Nazis not were a bunch of demons who ate babies for breakfast, and were in fact human beings, with families, loved ones and hobbies (Heinrich Himler was apparently a family man), which makes them all the more horrifying for killing millions of people out of some mad mans racist delusions. So I tend to like it when films show the Nazis as people instead of as just mindless villains to be gunned down, as it forces the audience to come to terms with how vile human beings can be. There is a very good reason why Hitler is rarely actually played by an actor in serious films, because people are afraid of making Hitler look either too sympathetic or too cool. Actors can really change how a historical character is viewed, famous anti-Semite (fitting I suppose) Mel Gibson pretty much defines how everybody pictures Scottish revolutionary William Wallace, as a brave hero fighting for freedom, independence, but another actor could easily have shown him as a brutal murdering psychotic who is justly put down by the British, while another could show him as a complex and morally grey figure who does horrible things, but is trying to free his people (the most accurate portrayal I think).
'Downfall' takes place in Berlin as the Soviets are entering and tells the story of the last days of Hitler's he commits suicide. An actor could show Hitler as some sort of brave revolutionary who is fighting against the evil communists for the sake of a greater Germany, which could have some appeal as the Soviets were infamously cruel during their invasion of Germany. In the world of Hollywood, any evil horrible historical figure can still come off as cool as long as their crimes aren't seen on screen, so it isn't a stretch to have Hitler seem like a strong dictator determined to die with his people rather than a delusional despot who destroyed the lives of millions of people, and his own country. It is sort of a custom in Germany to not have an actor play Hitler, but instead show actual film footage of the guy, thus preventing actors from subtly changing the perception of the man. So again, I was kinda worried that an actual actor would be playing Hitler, and showing a more human portrayal, which is much more accurate than the cartoonish evil version of the man we sometimes see (Inglorious Bastards I'm looking at you) but I was afraid of the image of the grandfatherly Fuhrer might catch on unintentionally, making him like the Godfather.

Luckily for everybody, that didn’t happen, the film is awesome.
The film follows Hitler’s personal secretary Traudl Junge, in the last days in the Bunker and right after during all of the insanity. I have to say, it was really interesting when, after all I read about Hitler and how he was a human being, a great public speaker, and all of his more human elements, and yet in the first scene when he came through the door, I simply had a feeling of just vile. Like I had been over come with something that made me sick, just disgusted in seeing the man come to life. And the depiction of him is actually really impressive. Bruno Ganz plays Adolf Hitler, and does a very good job of displaying both the human side of Hitler, the devilish charisma that made men follow him, but makes no effort to try to justify his actions or hide the fact that the man is clearly insane. One of the dangers of showing Hitler during his last days is, at that point the worst of the Nazi atrocities have already ended. The film can’t show the Death Camps, or the ghettos or the massacres, at this point they are victims of the Soviet brutality, and so the Nazis look more sympathetic, as they are fighting, admittedly heroically against the huge army of Soviets, who were a ruthless and brutal enemy in their own right, through still below the Nazis. But Ganz does a great job of showing how nuts Hitler is, and reminding the audience that despite how we might sympathize with these trapped and desperate men, Hitler is still a ruthless sociopath. Again and again we see him ordering his men to their death, murdering men for disobeying orders, even when those orders are insane (charging superior foes for example), killing German civilians in order to make sure Germany goes down with the Nazis, and demanding that Germany fights to the death, happy that he will ruin the country. Gantz also gets the infamous voice and Austrian accent right, chillingly so, to the point where the characters temper tantrums can make a viewer jump. And, even through they show the human side of Hitler, I think it is far more effective in hurting Neo Nazi causes than making him into some sort of evil messiah, a sort of Voldemort super man of evil who is brought down by the powers of good, but instead he comes off as a man, a broken leader whose disoriented and bipolar strategies only squanders Germany’s strength. Because he is a man, you despise and hate him, but also pity him, because quite frankly, he is a pathetic, a lonely, deeply disturbed individual who can’t be happy with anything, and loves nothing. It ruins the mystique of him being some sort of super villain, which would make him almost cool in the way a really dangerous story book villain is kinda cool. By demonstrating Hitler’s real nature, as a mad man who can’t handle his job (commanding units that only exist in his head, refusing any sort of negotiation, not allowing civilian retreat) Hitler loses his ability to be impressive, and just becomes a weak, pathetic, broken old man.

The portrayal the entire Nazi regime was really good. In the Bunker, a sort of microcosm for the entire nation, you see men like Goering and Himiler who are already abandoning their master for the chance to salvage something from the wreckage , you see some like the bald Doctor who are trying to help the civilians as much as possible and get sick with the regime, and then the Air Marshal guy who are loyal to Hitler but not to the cause. And then you have Speer, who is loyal to the man, but don’t obey his orders, and finally Goebbels (and family) who follows him to the bitter end, eventually committing suicide after Hitler's death. The movie is, to say the least, a little hard to take in one sitting. When it comes to historical films, I don’t mind spoiling the ending, but the entire experience of watching the Nazis' confused and chaotic scramble in the regime’s death throes has some really emotional scenes, such as when Frau Goebbels making her self the second most hated character next to Hitler when she poisons her six children because “A world without National Socialism is not worth living in”, not to mention the scene where various Nazi members shoot themselves. There is one scene where an officer is trying to get some men to assist him, and one of them says “I’m sorry sir, I can’t” before eating his own gun. Or the scene where one general, not allowed to retreat from Berlin, and knowing the Russians are coming, blows himself up while he is eating dinner with his family. Not to mention the panicked and paranoid shooting of “deserters”, throughout the film. The movie is makes the point that the Nazi inner circle was a nut house, And in real life, the Nazi party was a chaotic, ineffective, disorganized den of madness and infighting, with blind loyalty being contrasted with unimaginative back biting, with a total lack of compassion for other human beings. In general, it is a great way of showing the dysfunctional and chaotic nature of Nazi regime and those within it.

Just general notes about the film, I like how they showed the details of the Nazi party. From the really complicated inner politics, to the fanatical loyalty, to the infighting, it really felt like you were looking into the heart of darkness, into this bizarre and alien world, where the protagonist is trapped. Just a general side note, I loved the uniforms. And I don’t just mean the costumes, cause those were based after the real ones, but the actual uniforms. I’m not a Nazi sympathizer in any sense of the word, but, evil as they are, the Nazis uniforms are cool. I mean, even in all the chaos, you can’t help but noticed how awesome the guys look walking around in these fancy outfits with those large boots clicking everywhere, even the SS with those absurdly cliché skull and crossbones look pretty epic with there intimidating outfits. I mean, it helps you understand the appeal of the military complex in Germany, because pretty much anybody can look badass in one of those uniform, especially when they are contrasted with the ill-fitting and awkward looking appeal of the Soviets. Through it does help me appreciate our own military (US), for how utilitarian our suits are, its kinda avoiding that sort of romanticized militarism.

Also, there is pretty much no background music in this film, which is really good. If there was music added to this film, the Battle of Berlin would seem dramatic, a heroic last stand against the Soviet menace against the brave and fearless Germans, who are determined to not go quietly into that good night. You could have Hitler’s body being burned with a sense of glory and accomplishment, you could have Goebbels suicide being tragic and remorseful, you could have the coming of the Soviets seem like the approach of some sort of evil army (which you could argue they were, the Soviets were horrible, but far less worst than the Nazis). The movie would be what the Nazi’s wanted their final days to be remembered as, a sort of Spartan like last stand against the Asian hoards, despite all dying in the end in a Wanger like sacrifice, a bit like 300, and by that I mean that film is something that would come out of the Nazi film industry (Frank Riefenstahl Miller) . Instead through, the lack of back ground music maeks the last days seem not herotic, but pathetic. The burning of Hitler’s body doesn’t seem like a dramatic Wagner Viking style ending for a great hero, but simply a body being dumped in a whole and having brainwashed men burn it before being driven away by gun fire. The meetings with Hitler doesn’t feel like a frustrated man who is being forced to have his people fight to the last, but instead an uncomfortable talk with a maniac who is running everything. The scene feels more human, more real, and helps the audience sympathize with the protagonist as she is trapped in a world that she only just realizes has been crazy from the start, and wants to get out…but doesn’t know how. The Nazi’s last days, like Hitler himself, seem a pathetic and impotent force that is only waiting for a stronger power to finish it off.

The film in my mind has two faults. First off, they don’t introduce many characters. I recognized a lot of the more famous ones, but a lot of minor characters are hard to keep track of, and as they don’t’ all look like their historical counterparts, it’s a little hard. The real Goebbels for example, was very short and had a limp, while this one walks fine and is very towering. And finally, the only major historical inaccuracy, is that the film doesn’t show the brutalities of Soviets. Now I know that wether Traudl Junge escaped or was captured and raped is disputed, but the Soviets were brutal in their conquest of Germany, as Germany was brutal in their invasion of Russia. Mass rapes, torture, massacre of innocent German civilians, the Soviets were horrible. If it wasn’t for the far worst crimes of the Germans and Japanese, the Soviets would seem like the most inhuman monsters in the war (but seriously, how do you compare with Death Camps and Nanking). Now I am not denying that the Nazi were even worst to the Russians when they invaded the Soviet Union, but as it is, that doesn’t justify the Soviet brutalities (or the American ones for that matter, though ours are mostly against the Japanese), and as it is, the nature of the Allies brutalities are kept in the dark. I mean, the Axis were the most evil force produced by human nature, but I think its wrong to paint the conflict as black and white, it was more grey vs. black, as the allies did horrible things, and which should be noted. Denying it, just makes us abject hypocrites. That being said, I understand why this film didn’t do it, because by showing the Soviet atrocities, it makes the Germans seem more justified and heroic, and the film would want to avoid that. But in the end, this movie is a chilling and fascinating look into the Nazis when all of there delusions of grandeur were stripped away.

From

EE