Downfall (Der Untergang)

The Adolf Hitler in "Downfall" (Der Untergang) is primarily a symbolic figure. As a human being, we actually see very little of him, just a small decadent external layer. What we appreciate is a sick man, listless and overwhelmed by bad news from the war and by the failures of those in his inner circle.

Director Oliver Hirschbiegel was not able to go through the skin of the character. We never get a look of what is in his mind; there is never a moment of introspection that brings us closer to his motives; Hitler rarely has a moment of peace.

His relationships are superficial and governed by fear; we do not even see him sharing an intimate or casual moment with Eva Braun. Bruno Ganz plays this character loosely, imitating his mannerisms, his gestures, his yelling. It does not seem a hard task for the experienced actor of "Wings of Desire (Der Himmel über Berlin)": he did not get inside Hitler, only imitate him.

But it is undeniable that the star radiates power. He was an evil leader, but a leader in the end. To his followers he was a symbol of state union, of fidelity to some Aryans principles that were wrong, but they had faith in them and in him.

That man with the funny mustache was not any military: he was a leader idolized by the German people that represented their army, blind to the horrific and unspeakable carnage that was he causing with his actions.

I do not think the film tries to justify him or his actions. For me, the novelty lies in the story, which, as far as I can remember, was never told: the one of some final war days, always focused on the battles, this time relying in something that had never been showed before.

It is crucial to the film, which ran the risk of turning into an anecdote, the fact that it opens its lenses on other characters, a secretariat, a doctor, a child, and an architect that complement the spectrum and gives us other points of view of a conflict in which the German people also suffered.

At the end, this films leaves us a sensation of sadness and an evocation of the depths of ambition.

Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel

Writers: Bernd Eichinger (screenplay), Joachim Fest (book)

Stars: Bruno Ganz, Alexandra Maria Lara and Ulrich Matthes