DOWNFALL

DOWNFALL, a german film starring Bruno Ganz as Hitler, is playing at the Film Forum. The biggest World War Two re-enactments, are, of course, World War Two MOVIES! and this one, which has gotten some heat from various corners for portraying Hitler too sympathetically, is a must see. Concentrating on the perspective of Hitler’s secretary Trudl Junge, who wrote her memoirs after the war and lived until 2002, the film details the final weeks of Hitler’s life, in the infamous bunker, and the insane, bloody, collapse and end of the war. It is based on Junge’s book and also the work of noted german historian Joachim Fest. In my case I have read Hugh Trevor-Roper and Alan Bullock’s classic books on Hitler, which well prepared me for what might otherwise be a confusing cast of characters: you kind of have to know who Speer, Goering, and all the other Nazis are to understand who is who and what they represent. Still, the cinemetography is excellent, and whatever you may think of the film, it’s an important addition to the genre, right up there with Saving Private Ryan, Das Boot, The Big Red One, and so on.

by [a former member] at 2005-03-08 00:25:30 UTC (ed. Mar 12 2008 ) New York , United States | Bookmark | | Report spam→