Downfall
Downfall is a film I've been meaning to see for some time - and for a change I did actually get around to seeing it following repeated recommendations (thanks due to Ben at the Mondo Movie podcast and Joe Barlow of the Cinemaslave podcast among others).
By all accounts this was a contentious movie in Germany. Not unlike the recent release of United 93 (the first cinema film to deal with 9/11) Downfall was apparently the first film in which Hitler was portrayed by a German actor. Previous films have either used archive footage (which to my mind risks further mythologizing the man - more on this later) or have had him portrayed by the likes of Anthony Hopkins or Alec Guinness (which seems similarly inappropriate: by only getting great or acclaimed actors to portray Hitler he's once again mythologized).
Following his performance in Downfall there should be no doubt that Bruno Ganz is a great actor (he was most likely a great actor beforehand, but I'm guessing Downfall may well be remembered as his career high). While his portrayal of Hitler - a very human portrayal - has to a degree overshadowed the film, it has also served the purpose of reminding people that behind the iconic and terrible image of Hitler was just a man (in this case a weak and broken man).
From what I've read this was one of the issues that many people had with Downfall in its native Germany. Not only does the film exhume buried wounds once more, but in portraying Hitler as a human being it theoretically risks rendering him as a sympathetic character.
Having seen the film I can say that the chance to watch what I assume to be a realistic rendering of Hitler is fascinating, but at no point did I feel I was being encouraged to feel sympathy for him. Quite the opposite in fact. I was actually surprised to see how physically weak Hitler was - suffering from the early stages of Parkinson's, broken with the weight of losing the war, and bowed with age. At times his grasp on reality even seems to be fluctuating (although you could reasonably argue that this was always the case). Despite this he does instill terror and awe in his followers.
However, the presentation of him as nothing more than a living, breathing and, even, suffering human being makes his crimes all the worse. If he were some manner of megalithic, demonic figure then you could imagine him being detached from the horrors he perpetrated as if they were somehow beneath his elevated level of comprehension. But all we see is a broken old man who, even as he resigns himself to defeat and eventual suicide, is still convinced that exterminating the Jews was a noble act and is even prepared to sacrifice his own people, believing that they deserve to pay for his failure.
The other refreshing aspect of Downfall is the portrayal of the Nazis and the German people in general. The film does highlight to a degree a few people whose terrifyingly fanatical devotion to their Fuhrer and his cause illustrate that Hitler was far from alone (at least these are some of the characters who are most striking due to their overt behaviour). There's no attempt to explain, or even to condemn any of these people or their actions - and the film is all the stronger for it - we're just left to our own judgements.
Nevertheless, there are also those - and this is less overtly depicted - who are simply doing their best to serve their country and are quite possibly unaware of the level of Hitler's plans or his engineered genocide. There is even one particular character, a Nazi doctor, who is demonstrably baffled by the irrationality and inhumanity of some of his fellow soldiers' actions and behaviour.
Most illuminating for me was the suffering of the German people during the last few days of the war. Not only did they have to contend with being driven from their homes by the constant onslaught of the Russians, and with lynch mobs who seemed to view almost anyone left on the streets as a Russian collaborator, but they were also abandoned by their leader. While you'd hope that many world leaders would surrender in the face of obvious defeat - given that the longer the fighting continues the more lives will be lost - Hitler and his closest followers seemed determined that if they weren't to live out the war then neither did the German people deserve to do so.
Ultimately Downfall has a slightly broader scale than simply the last days of Hitler in his bunker. Rather like Traffic it adopts a portmanteau approach to depicting the last days of the Third Reich. While the events in the Fuherbunker are naturally the main focus, we also see events from the perspective of a few other characters (whose paths briefly cross at the end of the story).
All in all Downfall is a terrific achievement. The filmmakers fully realise there is no need to inject additional drama into the proceedings as the events themselves are sufficiently compelling (you may wish to compare this to Schindler's List - not a bad film in its own right, but one which is presented very differently). As such there is almost a documentary-like quality to the film which only adds to the sense of authenticity.
I can only hope that we see more historical films of this nature, particularly ones where the filmmakers are prepared to bypass hyperbole, propaganda and even moral judgement, in favour of simply presenting the known facts and allowing audiences to make up their own minds.
