Downfall (2004 film)

''Downfall'' () is a 2004 historical war drama film written and produced by Bernd Eichinger and directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel. It depicts the final days of Adolf Hitler (portrayed by Bruno Ganz), during the Battle of Berlin in World War II, when Nazi Germany is on the verge of total defeat at the hands of the Allies. The cast includes Alexandra Maria Lara, Corinna Harfouch, Ulrich Matthes, Juliane Köhler, Heino Ferch, Christian Berkel, Alexander Held, Matthias Habich, and Thomas Kretschmann. The film is a German-Austrian-Italian co-production.

Principal photography took place from September to November 2003, on location in Berlin, Munich, and Saint Petersburg, Russia. As the film is set in and around the , Hirschbiegel used eyewitness accounts, survivors' memoirs, and other historical sources during production to reconstruct the look and atmosphere of 1940s Berlin. The screenplay was based on the books '' Inside Hitler's Bunker'' by historian Joachim Fest and '' Until the Final Hour'' by Traudl Junge, one of Hitler's secretaries, among other accounts of the period.

The film premiered at the Toronto Film Festival on 14 September 2004. It was controversial with audiences for showing a human side of Hitler and members of the Third Reich. It later received a wide theatrical release in Germany under its production company Constantin Film. The film grossed over $92million. ''Downfall'' was a critical and commercial success, with international acclaim for the cast's performances (especially Ganz's portrayal of Hitler), Hirschbiegel's direction, and Eichinger's screenplay. It was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 77th Academy Awards.

Plot

In November 1942, Adolf Hitler invites several young women to interview for the position of personal secretary at the Wolf's Lair on the Eastern Front. He chooses Traudl Junge.

On 20 April 1945, Hitler's 56th birthday, Berlin comes under fire from Red Army in the ensuing Battle of Berlin. ''Reichsführer-SS'' Heinrich Himmler tries to persuade Hitler to leave Berlin, but Hitler refuses. Himmler leaves to negotiate with the Allies secretly through Count Folke Bernadotte. '' SS-Gruppenführer'' Hermann Fegelein, Himmler's liaison officer, attempts to persuade Hitler to flee, but Hitler insists that he will win or die in Berlin. SS doctor '' Obersturmbannführer'' Ernst-Günther Schenck is ordered to leave Berlin in Operation Clausewitz but persuades an SS general to let him stay in Berlin. In the streets, Hitler Youth Peter Kranz's father approaches his son's unit and tries to persuade him to leave. Peter, who destroyed two enemy tanks, denounces his father.

At a meeting in the , Hitler forbids the overwhelmed 9th Army to retreat, instead ordering '' Obergruppenführer'' Felix Steiner's units alongside Lieutenant General Walther Wenck's 12th Army to mount a counter-attack. The generals find the orders impossible and irrational. Above ground, Hitler awards Peter the Iron Cross, hailing him as braver than his generals. In his office, Hitler talks to armaments minister Albert Speer about his scorched earth policy. Speer is concerned about the destruction of Germany's infrastructure, but Hitler believes the German people are weak and deserve death. Hitler's companion Eva Braun holds a party in the Reich Chancellery, which is broken up by artillery fire. Her brother-in-law Fegelein tries to persuade Eva to leave Berlin with Hitler, but she refuses.

On the frontline, General Helmuth Weidling is informed he will be executed for allegedly ordering a retreat. Weidling comes to the ''Führerbunker'' to clear himself of the charges. His action impresses Hitler, who promotes him to oversee all of Berlin's defences. At another meeting, Hitler learns that Steiner did not attack because his unit lacked sufficient force. Hitler loses his temper at this and launches into a furious tirade, claiming that everyone has failed him and denouncing his generals as cowards and traitors. He acknowledges that the war is lost but says that he would rather commit suicide than leave Berlin.

'' SS-Brigadeführer'' Wilhelm Mohnke asks Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels to stop sending inexperienced soldiers to the battlefront as they are easy prey for the Red Army. Goebbels refuses, claiming that the German people deserve their fate for voting the Nazis into power. Schenck witnesses old men being executed by the '' Feldgendarmerie'' for desertion. Hitler receives a message from '' Reichsmarschall'' Hermann Göring, requesting state leadership for himself. In response, Hitler declares Göring as committing a coup d'état, ordering his dismissal and arrest. Speer makes a final visit to the ''Führerbunker'' and admits that he has defied orders to destroy Germany's infrastructure. Hitler, however, does not punish Speer, and lets him leave Berlin. Peter, finding his unit dead, runs back home. Hitler continues to imagine ways for Germany to turn the tide. At dinner, Hitler learns of Himmler's secret negotiations with the Allies, sending him into another rage, and he orders Himmler's execution. SS physician ''Obergruppenführer'' Ernst-Robert Grawitz asks Hitler's permission to evacuate for fear of Allied reprisal. Hitler refuses, leading Grawitz to kill his family and himself using grenades. Hitler discovers that Fegelein has deserted his post and has him executed despite Eva's pleas.

The Red Army continues advancing as Berlin's supplies run low and German morale plummets. Hitler hopes that even without Steiner, Wenck's 12th Army will save Berlin. After midnight, Hitler dictates his last will and testament to Junge before marrying Eva. The following morning, Hitler learns that the 12th Army is unable to save Berlin. Refusing surrender, Hitler plans his death. He administers poison to his dog Blondi, bids farewell to the bunker staff, and commits suicide with Eva. They are cremated with petrol in a ditch in the Chancellery garden and Goebbels assumes the Chancellorship.

General Hans Krebs fails to negotiate a ceasefire with Red Army Colonel General Vasily Chuikov, who still insists on Germany's unconditional surrender which Goebbels refuses to permit. Goebbels' wife Magda poisons their six children with cyanide capsules. Krebs and Wilhelm Burgdorf commit suicide before Weidling announces the unconditional surrender of German forces in Berlin and Peter discovers that his parents were murdered by a band of Nazi fanatics. While the Goebbels both commit suicide, the remaining occupants of the bunker attempt to flee the city but end up surrounded by the Red Army. Junge is the only occupant who continues her escape, and Peter joins her as they sneak through Red Army soldiers. German diplomat SS-'' Brigadeführer'' Walther Hewel commits suicide despite Schenk's attempts to persuade him to live. Junge and Peter find a bicycle and leave Berlin.

Cast

Nazi Party and civilians

''Wehrmacht''

''Schutzstaffel''

Additional cast members in smaller roles include Alexander Slastin as Vasily Chuikov, Elena Dreyden as Inge Dombrowski, Norbert Heckner as Walter Wagner, Silke Nikowski as Frau Grawitz, Leopold von Buttlar as Sohn Grawitz, Veit Stübner as Tellermann, Boris Schwarzmann as Matvey Blanter, Vsevolod Tsurilo as Russian Adjutant, Vasily Reutov as Theodor von Dufving. The Goebbels children are portrayed by Alina Sokar (Helga), Charlotte Stoiber (Hilda), Gregory Borlein (Helmut), Julia Bauer (Hedda), Laura Borlein (Holde), and Amelie Menges (Heide).

Production

Development

Producer and screenwriter Bernd Eichinger wanted to make a film about Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party for twenty years but was, at first, discouraged after its enormity prevented him from doing so. Eichinger was inspired to begin the filmmaking process after reading '' Inside Hitler's Bunker: The Last Days of the Third Reich'' (2002) by historian Joachim Fest. Eichinger also based the film on the memoirs of Traudl Junge, one of Hitler's secretaries, called '' Until the Final Hour: Hitler's Last Secretary'' (2002). When writing the screenplay, he used the books '' Inside the Third Reich'' (1969), by Albert Speer, one of the highest-ranking Nazi officials to survive both the war and the Nuremberg trials; ''Hitler's Last Days: An Eye-Witness Account'' (1973), by Gerhard Boldt; ''Das Notlazarett unter der Reichskanzlei: Ein Arzt erlebt Hitlers Ende in Berlin'' (1995) by Ernst-Günther Schenck; and ''Soldat: Reflections of a German Soldier, 1936–1949'' (1992) by Siegfried Knappe as references.

After completing the script for the film, Eichinger presented it to director Oliver Hirschbiegel. Though he was interested in exploring how the people of Germany "could have plumbed such depths", as a German, Hirschbiegel hesitated to take it as he "reacted to the idea of Nazism as a taboo". Hirschbiegel eventually agreed to helm the project, stating that he "noticed that it just wouldn't leave me in peace, and in my heart, before accepting the project, I knew that I had already opened myself up to it."

''Downfall'' is the first German film to broach the subject of Hitler straight-on since '' The Last Ten Days'' (1955).

Casting

When Bruno Ganz, who was Hirschbiegel's first choice for the role, was offered the role of Hitler, being sent the screenplay and Fest's book, he was reluctant to accept the part, and many of his friends advised against it, but he believed that the subject had "a fascinating side", and ultimately agreed to take the role. Ganz watched ''The Last Ten Days'', in which Albin Skoda played Hitler, which convinced Ganz that it was really possible to play the dictator.
Ganz studied the Hitler and Mannerheim recording for four months to properly mimic Hitler's conversational voice and Austrian dialect. Ganz came to the conclusion that Hitler had Parkinson's disease, noting his observation of Hitler's shaky body movements present in the newsreel '' Die Deutsche Wochenschau'', and decided to visit a hospital to study patients with the disease. Ganz auditioned in the casting studio with makeup for half an hour and tested his voice for Hirschbiegel who was convinced by his performance.

Alexandra Maria Lara was cast as Traudl Junge; she was given Junge's book '' Until the Final Hour'' (2002), which she called her "personal treasure", to read during filming. Before she was cast, she had seen André Heller's documentary film '' Im toten Winkel'' which impressed her and influenced her perspective on Junge.

Filming and design

Principal photography lasted twelve weeks from September to November 2003, under the working title ''Sunset''. The film is set mostly in and around the ; Hirschbiegel made an effort to accurately reconstruct the look and atmosphere of World War II through eyewitness accounts, survivors' memoirs, and other historical sources. Hirschbiegel filmed in the cities of Berlin, Munich, and Saint Petersburg, Russia, with a run-down industrial district along the Obvodny Canal used to portray the historical setting in Berlin. Hirschbiegel noted the depressing atmosphere surrounding the shoot, finding relief through listening to Johann Sebastian Bach's music. Alexandra Maria Lara also mentioned the depressing and intense atmosphere during filming. To lighten the mood, Lara's colleagues engaged in activities such as football, while Ganz tried to keep a happy mood by retiring during shooting breaks.

The film was produced on a €13.5million budget. The bunker and Hitler's Wolf's Lair were constructed at Bavaria Studios in Munich by production designer Bernd Lepel. The damaged Reich Chancellery was depicted through the use of CGI. Hirschbiegel decided to limit the use of CGI, props and sets so as not to make the set design look like that of a theatre production, explaining:

Themes

According to Eichinger, the film's overlying idea was to make a film about Hitler and wartime Germany that was very close to historical truth, as part of a theme that would allow the German nation to save their own history and "experience their own trauma". To accomplish this, the film explores Hitler's decisions and motives during his final days through the perspective of the individuals who lived in the Führerbunker during those times. Eichinger chose not to include mention of the Holocaust because it was not the topic of the film. He also thought it was "impossible" to show the "misery" and "desperation" of the concentration camps cinematically.

Portrayal

During production, Hirschbiegel believed that Hitler would often charm people using his personality, only to manipulate and betray them. Many of the people in the film, including Traudl Junge, are shown to be enthusiastic in interacting with Hitler instead of feeling threatened or anxious by his presence and authority. The production team sought to give Hitler a three-dimensional personality, with Hirschbiegel telling NBC: "We know from all accounts that he was a very charming mana man who managed to seduce a whole people into barbarism." He said Hitler was "like a shell", attracting people with self-pity, but inside the shell was only "an enormous will for destruction".

The film explores the suicides and deaths of the Nazi Party as opposed to the people who choose life. Hitler's provision of cyanide pills to those in the bunker and the Goebbels' murder of their children are shown as selfish deeds while people such as Schenck, who chose to help the injured and escape death, are shown as rational and generous. In the DVD commentary, Hirschbiegel said that the events in the film were "derived from the accounts, from descriptions of people" in the bunker. The film also includes an introduction and closing with the real Junge in an interview from '' Im toten Winkel'', where she admits feeling guilt for "not recognizing this monster in time".

Release

''Downfall'' premiered at the Toronto Film Festival on September 14, 2004. After first failing to find a distributor, the film was eventually released on September 16 in Germany by Constantin Film. It premiered in the U.S. in Manhattan on February 18, 2005, under Newmarket Films. On its broadcast in the UK, Channel4 marketed it with the strapline: "It's a happy ending. He dies."

Box office and awards

''Downfall'' sold nearly half a million tickets in Germany for its opening weekend and attracted 4.5 million viewers in the first three months. The final North American gross was $5,509,040, while $86,671,870 was made with its foreign gross. The film made $93.6million altogether.

''Downfall'' was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 77th Academy Awards. It won the 2005 BBC Four World Cinema competition. The film was also ranked number 48 in ''Empire'' magazine's "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema" in 2010.

Home media

The film was released on DVD in August 2 2005 by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. Shout! Factory released a collector's edition Blu-ray in March 2018, with a " making-of" featurette, cast and crew interviews, and audio commentary from director Oliver Hirschbiegel. The film was released on Ultra HD Blu-ray in Germany in 2024.

TV Extended Version

In addition to the theatrical version, which has a length of 150 minutes, there was also an extended version produced especially for television. First aired by Das Erste on 19 October 2005, the 25 minutes longer Extended Version was played in two parts each with a length of approx. 90 minutes. Later it was also released on DVD. The Extended Version features many new scenes in the bunker and shows more of the bombed-out Berlin.

Reception

Critical response

The review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 90% based on 141 reviews from critics, with a weighted average of 8/10. The website's consensus reads, "''Downfall'' is an illuminating, thoughtful and detailed account of Hitler's last days." On Metacritic, the film was awarded the "Must-See" badge, holding a weighted average of 82 out of 100 based on 35 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".

Reviews for the film were often very positive, despite debate surrounding the film from critics and audiences upon its release . Ganz's portrayal of Hitler was singled out for praise; David Denby for ''The New Yorker'' said that Ganz "made the dictator into a plausible human being". With respect to German uneasiness about "humanizing" Hitler, Denby said that while "journalists in ermanywondered aloud whether the "human" treatment of Hitler might not inadvertently aid the neo-Nazi movement...in his many rants in he filmHitler says that the German people do not deserve to survive, that they have failed him by losing the war and must perish – not exactly the sentiments ..that would spark a recruitment drive. This Hitler may be human, but he's as utterly degraded a human being as has ever been shown on the screen, a man whose every impulse leads to annihilation". Addressing other critics like Denby, ''Chicago Sun-Times'' critic Roger Ebert said the film did not provide an adequate portrayal of Hitler's actions, because he felt no film could, and that no response would be sufficient. Ebert said Hitler was, in reality, "the focus for a spontaneous uprising by many of the German people, fueled by racism, xenophobia, grandiosity and fear".

Hermann Graml, history professor and former Luftwaffe helper, praised the film and said that he had not seen a film that was "so insistent and tormentingly alive". Graml said that Hitler's portrayal was presented correctly by showing Hitler's will "to destroy, and his way of denying reality". Julia Radke of the German website Future Needs Remembrance praised the film's acting and called it well crafted and a solid '' Kammerspielfilm'', though it could lose viewer interest due to a lack of concentration on the narrative perspective. German author Jens Jessen said that the film "could have been stupider" and called it a "chamber play that could not be staged undramatically". Jessen also said that it was not as spectacular as the pre-media coverage could have led one to believe, and it did not arouse the "morbid fascination" the magazine ''Der Spiegel'' was looking for.

Hitler biographer Sir Ian Kershaw wrote in ''The Guardian'' that the film had enormous emotive power, calling it a triumph and "a marvellous historical drama". Kershaw also said that he "found it hard to imagine that anyone (other than the usual neo-Nazi fringe) could possibly find Hitler a sympathetic figure" in his final days, noting how Hitler "could be kind and considerate to his secretaries, and with the next breath show cold ruthlessness, dispassionate brutality, in determining the deaths of millions". He also praised Ganz's performance, stating that compared to actors who played Hitler beforehand, such as Alec Guinness or Anthony Hopkins, "this is the only one which to me is compelling. Part of this is the voice. Ganz has Hitler's voice to near perfection. It is chillingly authentic". Wim Wenders, in a review for the German newspaper ''Die Zeit'', said the film was absent of a strong point of view for Hitler which made him harmless, and compared ''Downfall'' to '' Resident Evil: Apocalypse'', stating that in ''Resident Evil'' the viewer would know which character was evil.

Alex von Tunzelmann of ''The Guardian'' gave the film a grade of A, saying: "''Downfall'' is an intelligent, thoroughly researched recreation of Hitler's last days, and a terrific movie.."

Tom Fordy praised the film as an achievement.

Humanization concerns

''Downfall'' was the subject of dispute by critics and audiences in Germany before and after its release, with many concerned regarding Hitler's portrayal in the film as a human being with emotions in spite of his actions and ideologies. The portrayal sparked debate in Germany due to publicity from commentators, film magazines, and newspapers, leading the German tabloid '' Bild'' to ask the question, "Are we allowed to show the monster as a human being?"

Russian press visited the set, making the producers uneasy and occasionally defensive. Yana Bezhanskay, director of Globus Film, Constantin's Russian partner, raised her voice to Russian journalists and said: "This is an antifascist film and nowhere in it do you see Hitler praised."

Cristina Nord from '' Die Tageszeitung'' criticized the portrayal, and said that though it was important to make films about perpetrators, "seeing Hitler cry" had not informed her on the last days of the Third Reich. Some have supported the film: Hans-Jürgen Syberberg, director of '' Hitler: A Film from Germany'' (1977), felt the time was right to "paint a realistic portrait" of Hitler. Eichinger replied to the response from the film by stating that the "terrifying thing" about Hitler was that he was human and "not an elephant or a monster from Mars". Ganz said that he was proud of the film; though he said people had accused him of "humanizing" Hitler.

Historical accuracy

The basic premises of the film are true and largely accurate. While the majority of the characters in the film are based on actual people, the character Peter Kranz is fiction, though based on Alfred Czech, a 12-year-old who saved a dozen of German soldiers from a Russian attack in his home village of Goldenau (now Złotniki, Poland). Author Giles MacDonogh criticized the portrayals of SS officers Wilhelm Mohnke and Ernst-Günther Schenck as being sympathetic, the former of whom was accused of murdering a group of British prisoners of war in the Wormhoudt massacre. Hirschbiegel said that the allegations that Schenck had performed unethical medical experiments were unproven.

When Rochus Misch, Hitler's bodyguard, was asked about the film's historical accuracy in a 2005 interview, he stated that although it was factually accurate, he accused the film of being “Americanized”, claiming that Hitler never screamed in the bunker and that the bunker was generally quiet, though Hitler's furious rant about Steiner's lack of attack was recorded by eyewitnesses. Misch opined that the film portrayal of the murder of the Goebbels children was inaccurate as he alleged that it was Frau Goebbels who was behind the murder as opposed to both Frau and Joseph Goebbels. Furthermore, whilst Misch had contemplated suicide as depicted in the film, the event occurred differently in reality.

Parodies

''Downfall'' is well known for its rise in popularity due to many internet parody videos and memes which use several scenes in the film: when Hitler phones '' General der Flieger'' Karl Koller about Berlin's April 20 bombardment; when Hitler discusses a counterattack against advancing Soviet forces with his generals; where Hitler becomes angry after hearing that Steiner's attack never happened, due to a lack of forces; when Hitler hears Luftwaffe commander Hermann Göring's telegram; when Hitler is having dinner and discovers ''Reichsführer-SS'' Heinrich Himmler secretly made a surrender offer to the Western Allies; and where Hitler orders Otto Günsche to find '' SS-Gruppenführer'' Hermann Fegelein. In the videos the original German audio is retained, but new subtitles are added so that Hitler and his subordinates seem to be reacting to an issue or setback in present-day politics, sports, entertainment, popular culture, or everyday life. In addition, some users combine footage from the film with other sources, dub the German dialogue over video games and/or footage from other films and TV series, or edit images of the characters onto pre-existing or animated footage, often for greater comic effect.

Hirschbiegel spoke positively about these parodies in a 2010 interview with '' New York'' magazine, saying that many of them were funny and a fitting extension of the film's purpose. Nevertheless, Constantin Film asked video sites to remove them. The producers initiated a removal of parody videos from YouTube in 2010. This prompted more posting of parody videos of Hitler complaining that the parodies were being taken down, and a resurgence of the videos on the site.

One particular parody was the subject of '' BP Refinery v Tracey'', in Australia, where a BP employee named Scott Tracey was terminated from his job for a video satirising collective bargaining negotiations at the company he was working in. Tracey managed to successfully appeal his unfair dismissal to the Full Federal Court who decided that the video in question was not offensive, and had his job reinstated and received $200,000 in compensation.

The 2012 science fiction comedy '' Iron Sky'' and the 2015 political satire film '' Look Who's Back'' both parody the scene of Hitler finding out Steiner's attack did not take place; Nazis are a central plot point in both films. https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Film/IronSky

See also

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References

Informational notes

Citations

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Further reading
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* O'Donnell, James P (2001) 978 '' The Bunker: The History of the Reich Chancellery Group'', Boston: Houghton Mifflin, .
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External links

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