Drama,History,War
Austria,Germany,Italy
Downfall is a 2004 German war film directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel. The film is set during the last days of Adolf Hitler's rule over Nazi Germany. The movie is based on the memoirs of Traudl Junge, one of Hitler's secretaries, who was present in the bunker during the final days of the war.
The movie explores the psychological state of Hitler (played by Bruno Ganz) during his last days in the bunker. As the Red Army advances on Berlin, Hitler refuses to accept defeat and orders his generals to fight to the death. His inner circle, including his mistress Eva Braun (Juliane Köhler) and Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels (Ulrich Matthes), remain loyal to him until the end.
While the Nazi leaders are holed up in the bunker, the streets of Berlin are being destroyed in the final onslaught of the war. The movie shows the madness of the Nazi regime and the effects of the war on the ordinary people of Germany. In one scene, as the battle rages outside, a group of young German soldiers escape the front lines to dance to jitterbug music, oblivious to the destruction around them.
The movie is unflinching in its portrayal of the atrocities committed by the Nazi regime. The film shows the cold-blooded killing of a group of children with Down Syndrome by an SS officer because they are deemed to be unfit for life. It also portrays the suicide of Goebbels' six children, who are poisoned by their parents in the bunker.
Downfall was critically acclaimed and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2005. The movie has been praised for its realistic portrayal of the fall of the Nazi regime and the human side of the people caught up in it.
