Movie #95 – Downfall (2004) - 156 min, cert 15.
The movie is an account of the last few days of World War II within Hitler’s bunker, as seen from the point of view of his personal secretary, Traudl Junge
The movie is mostly based on Junge’s biography, so it seems reasonable to consider it pretty accurate in terms of what actually happened. It portrays Hitler as a man who was clearly mad. He was wildly deluded about the state of the war. One moment he would be screaming and ranting at his aides and senior officers, then exchanging pleasantries with his more junior staff and petting his dog. Even when the War was all but lost, he was still having strategy meetings where he issued orders to troops that no longer existed and officers that had been killed or captured long ago.
I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to react to this movie. Was I supposed to feel anger or outrage at the monster that was Hitler? Or perhaps the portrayal was intended to provoke sympathy for a tormented soul. In the end, it just made me wonder how on earth this man was permitted to wallow in his own delusion and fantasy for so long, and at such cost to the people who looked to him for leadership. I came to realise that perhaps too much of the blame for the atrocities the occurred during that time is laid on his shoulders, and that perhaps more fault should be attached to the people who put him in that position and then kept him there.
An interesting film, overall, but it possibly dragged a little towards the end.
Score – 7/10.
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