Traudl Junge, the final secretary for Adolf Hitler, tells of the Nazi dictator's final days in his Berlin bunker at the end of WWII.Traudl Junge, the final secretary for Adolf Hitler, tells of the Nazi dictator's final days in his Berlin bunker at the end of WWII.Traudl Junge, the final secretary for Adolf Hitler, tells of the Nazi dictator's final days in his Berlin bunker at the end of WWII.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 22 wins & 34 nominations total
- General Wilhelm Burgdorf
- (as Justus von Dohnanyi)
Summary
Featured reviews
Initially, I figured this would be a very low budget chamber piece. But it is as epic in scope as a Spielberg war film, with effects to match. A real surprise. But don't be fooled by eye candy. Der Untergang is a human story. It is an amazing built film. And it is unreal. A must-see.
Bruno Ganz's portrayal is the perfection in the Hitler role one would expect at least on the surface , he gives insight to his madness and with persuasive qualities of his interpretation . A flawless casting with excellent German actors such as Alexandra Maria Lara (personal secretary Traudl Junge and the picture is based on his book) as co-protagonist , Juliane Kohler (Eva Braun) and distinguished players as Ulrich Matthes (Joseph Goebbles) , Corinna Harfouch (Magda Goebbles) and Thomas Kretschman . Besides , a nice support cast who play to famous characters as Martin Borman , Alber Speer , General Keitel , General Jodl and Hermann Goering and specially Heimrich Himmler who will betray to Hitler deciding along with the count Bernardotte to agree peace with the Allies , originating his hysteria splendidly reflected in the movie . In spite of Berlin is surrounded and meanwhile the bloody war with enormous bombing fall about the survivors and last defending , Hitler prepares the sad farewell very well narrated by the director Oliver Hirschbiegel and superbly captured the atmosphere by the cameras . The motion picture is one of the best war movies ever made , on pair with ¨Das Boot (also German movie and directed by Wolfgang Petersen) and ¨Saving private Ryan¨ (Steven Spielberg) . The flick will appeal to historical cinema enthusiasts and warlike genre fans. Rating : Above average and astounding , being interesting and thoughtful .
Oliver Hirschbiegel's film has been criticized by some circles as presenting a "too sympathetic" portrait of the Fuhrer. I don't believe anything in the film suggests that its creators sympathize with the Nazi regime and those who had orchestrated it.
Showing Hitler as a human being (amazing performance by Bruno Ganz), a man who loved his dog, was a vegetarian and could display some moments of tenderness did not undermine the overall image of a lonely, domineering, conscienceless, and hateful man who believed that his people, his compatriots, women and children deserve to die because they are no longer deserve to live and because "in a war as such there are no civilians".
Did those who think that that the film "humanized" Hitler forget the most chilling scene in the movie, the one that shows Frau Goebbels crush the ampoules with cyanide between her children's teeth, after they had been dosed with a sleeping draught? She did it not because she was scared of what would happen to them after the war, no, her reason was, "The country without National Socialism and its party is not worth living in". How dangerous Hitler was if he could induce such a blind devotion that could convince a mother of six to murder her children in cold blood.
Bernd Eichinger, the producer and scriptwriter of "Downfall" emphasized, the greatest danger he saw in making a film about Hitler was the temptation to show him as a psychopath or madman: "Hitler possessed an enormous criminal and destructive energy, and he was a barbarian in the most fundamental sense of the term... But I am convinced that he was totally of sound mind until the very end, which is why leadership never slipped from his hands."
The film's director Oliver Hirschbiege says that, in the same way it was evil of Hitler to see Jews as less than human beings - i.e. as "insects" - it would be equally wrong to portray Hitler as a madman, because that would excuse him of culpability: "I think the biggest mistake is to have an image of Hitler as insane - that he was not a human being but a monster. The most important point to realize is that Hitler was not a madman, not a psychopath or someone on drugs, which implies that he wasn't responsible for what he was doing. Of course he was responsible! "For me, (this film is) paying homage to and truly honoring the victims, because we fall short if we explain the Holocaust by stating that they were all out of their minds. They knew what they were doing!"
I believe that the result of their work, the film I saw last night is absolutely unforgettable - honest, powerful and devastating. It is a masterwork of film-making and a very important in its objectivity historical document.
9.5/10
As I said, it's a film about Adolf Hitlers final days, trapped in a bunker in Berlin, while the Russians are slowly moving closer. Hitler losing his faith in a 'good' outcome, the final bullet, everything is has happened for real. But when I left the cinema I had the idea I had just been watching a fictional story. A perfect script, made in real life 59 years ago. Not much to say about anything else. If you are interested in WWII stuff, go see it in the cinema, it's worth every penny.
Great movie : 10/10 without a doubt.
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaMost of the outdoor city scenes for the movie were filmed in Saint Petersburg, Russia. This was for two reasons: one, the architecture of the city has many Germanic aspects, and two, there are plenty of streets with little or no modern advertisements and other commercial aspects.
- GoofsIn the film, Hermann Fegelein is shown as being arrested, dragged outside and summarily shot. In fact, Fegelein was arrested and kept in a cell for at least three days in the Führerbunker before Hitler ordered him stripped of rank and to be subjected to court martial, during which he was so drunk he vomited and urinated on the floor. It was only after the court martial that he was shot.
- Quotes
Adolf Hitler: That was an order! Steiner's assault was an order! Who do you think you are to dare disobey an order I give? So this is what it has come to! The military has been lying to me. Everybody has been lying to me, even the SS! Our generals are just a bunch of contemptible, disloyal cowards.
General der Infanterie Wilhelm Burgdorf: I can't permit you to insult the soldiers.
Adolf Hitler: They are cowards, traitors and failures!
General der Infanterie Wilhelm Burgdorf: My fuhrer, this is outrageous!
Adolf Hitler: Our generals are the scum of the German people! Not a shred of honour! They call themselves generals. Years at military academy just to learn how to hold a knife and fork! For years, the military has hindered my plans! They've put every kind of obstacle in my way! What I should have done... was liquidate all the high-ranking officers, as Stalin did!
- Crazy creditsAfter the final credits there is a statement by the real Traudl Jung about her feelings of guilt and responsibility. In the British Cinema release, this is moved to before the credits.
- Alternate versionsExtended version includes 22 minutes of additional footage.
- ConnectionsEdited from Im toten Winkel - Hitlers Sekretärin (2002)
- SoundtracksWhen I Am Laid In Earth
from "Dido and Aeneas"
Composed by Henry Purcell (1659-1695)
Arranged by Horst Liebenau and Stephan Zacharias
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- La caída
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- €13,500,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $5,509,040
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $18,195
- Feb 20, 2005
- Gross worldwide
- $92,181,574
- Runtime2 hours 36 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
Contribute to this page
