Always Right Movie Review'dustries

I saw the movie Downfall a long time ago, but because several people I know seem into WWII history, I'll throw my review of it out there.

All the critics loved Downfall. Well, maybe not all. There's always those one or two whiny voices out there that say it was too sympathetic to the Nazis--that it humanizes them too much. I say fie on that. The Nazis were monsters, but they were also human, just like the rest of us. And if evil is to be prevented in the future, it does no good to simply ignore how it has arisen in the past by demonizing those who have practiced it and leaving it at that. Understanding how insidious evil is, is crucial.

This movie takes what I consider a straightforward look at what happened with those poor souls of the Third Reich and some of those caught up in their powerful rhetoric from their own viewpoint as they suffer through their imminent destruction, courtesy of the Red Army. The whole team is here. Himmler, Speer, the Goebbels family, Eva Braun, etc, in addition to minor players such as one of Hitler's naive secretaries and a few Hitler Youths. The primary setting in Hitler's bunkers, as the Soviets clench their iron fist and relentlessly shell Berlin, is effectively claustrophobic and the tension and fear palpable. There are many scenes in this film that stay with you as you witness the stunningly profound fanaticism inherent in Hitler and those close to him, as well as the Nazis' intense pride which they struggle to hold on to as the curtain falls. Throughout the film you get a sense of the shock felt by those loyal to the Reich as it becomes apparent that defeat is inevitable--and the denial present as when Eva decides to throw a party in the midst of a midnight artillery barrage. A cold awakening to reality follows.

Downfall is a powerful film that brims with great acting and a direction that makes the feeling of impending doom explicitly tangible. Everybody knows how this particular chapter of history ends, but witnessing the unflinching, stark and brutal dramatization of these events is both harrowing and enlightening. When the hammer fell on the Nazis, it fell hard. Hitler's downfall, and the movie, were Unstoppable.

I recommend this movie for all WWII buffs. Be warned that this is a German movie and not spoken in English.