Hey folks, Harry here and I've been hearing great things about DER UNTERGANG for quite some time now and may have to hop a flight to Berlin to catch a peak of it here real soon. It sounds amazing! Beware of Spoilers - but then... We know how Hitler's last days end... don't we?
Hello Harry
I've been reading the site for a long time and decided to submit my review to one of the best foreign movies ever made - Der Untergang
In my fall vacation that have unfortunately ended about a week ago, I finally took some time to check out this German blockbuster and I have to say that I was impressed. VERY IMPRESSED.
To be honest, I have never been partial to German cinema. I find one of Germany's worldwide most acclaimed movies, Lola Rennt (a.k.a. Run Lola Run) incredibly overrated. It doesn't offer anything all-too innovative or distinctive to me, but much rather the movie looks like an over-long MTV clip. Even most Germans you'd find only would admit that German cinema hasn't exactly been very productive regarding good qualitiy movies in the recent years. Though there were some big blockbusters produced over here (like (T)Raumschiff Surprise: Periode I and Der Schuh des Manitu), all of this movies have been nothing, but some Hollywood-like cheap slapstick humor with popular TV comedians which made these movies so successful. Therefore, I usually don't see more than one German movie in theatres within a year, tops and I can't remember myself anticipating any German movie coming out.
Well this has changed a couple of months ago when I heard about Der Untergang (Downfall). Der Untergang tells about the last days in the life of Hitler (amazingly portrayed by Bruno Ganz) as well as the last 18 days of the occupation of Berlin during World War II. The whole movie is told from the perspective of Hitler's young female secretary, Traudl Junge (played by Germany's shooting star Alexandra Maria Lara) who stays with Hitler in his bunker during his final days even though she is not partial to national-socialism. The movie is based on Traudl Junge's biography as well as a famous book by Joachim Fest called "Inside Hitler's Bunker". It portrays the happenings inside of Fuehrer's bunker during the last days of his life and shows the insanity and the delusion of this man which really came to light during his last days. Especially one scene sticks in my mind when Hitler tells to his remaining generals his newest strategic plans even though the armies that he names don't even exist.
On the other hand this movie shows the devotedness of many people to their Fuehrer even though there was no chance for a victory anymore, people still believed in him even though he abandoned his own nation in the end. The movie shows the suffering of the people in Berlin caused by Hitler's refusal to capitulate. It shows how some people, even those out of Hitler's closest circles came to realize that he is nothing more than an insane monster who doesn't even care about his own nation. In a poignant scene of the movie Hitler says something in the vein of "They shall (the nation) drown in their own blood. I won't cry even a single tear because of that. They failed, they disappointed and now they shall go down with me because they don't deserve it any differently".
I have seen previews of this movie and it looked amazing, especially for a German production. With the budget of around $17 million it is the most expensive pure German production of all time and it really looks like it too. It has also been getting splendid reviews over here and it has been a huge hit, holding on to the top spot of the box-office for 4 weeks straight (it even made more in its 2nd and 3rd weekend than it did in its first).
Finally I decided to go and check it out and I have to say that I was stunned. This is easily one of the best movies of the years. It ranks as my 4th favorite movie of the year (I give it a straight A or 9/10), but it is probably the best movie I have seen this year so far. It is really superb and definitely oscar-worthy. I will be extremely surprised if the movie doesn't receive a nomination for the Best Foreign Picture at next year's Academy Awards. Personally, I think that if it was a Hollywood movie it would DEFINITELY receive over 8 Oscar nominations. The movie would definitely deserve at least that much. Der Untergang stars the creme de la creme of German cinema, including Bruno Ganz, Alexandra Maria Lara, Ulrich Noethen, Juliane Köhler, Thomas Kretschmann, Heino Ferch, Corinna Harfouch and many others. The acting is amazing by each member of the cast. The production values or no worse than of a huge Hollywood blockbuster. The occupation of Berlin has been portrayed very well and authentic.
What really sticks out about this movie however is Bruno Ganz as the Nazi dictator Hitler. After having seen him as Hitler I honestly cannot imagine anyone else ever playing Hitler as well as he could pull it off. The looks, the accent and the acting was just pitch-perfect. Not only he manages to show off Hitler's insanity and pure evil, but he also gives Hitler a human side, something we haven't really seen in movies. (don't worry, you still won't have much sympathy with him). He definitely deserves an Oscar nod for his role and if it was an American movie he sure would have gotten one. His performance is invloving, moving and so authentic that you really believe seeing Hitler on-screen.
Technically the movie is just as amazing. The cinematography is astounding as well as sound ad editing of the movie. The art design is superb.
The movie is not flawless for sure, but it comes close enough. Some things in the movie seems a bit unrealistic and far-fetched. Also this movie with its length of around 2 1/2 hours drags a little bit in its last 30 minutes. Basically after Hitler's suicide it loses some of its steam as Bruno Ganz does to this movie what Johnny Depp did to Pirates of the Caribbean. Other than that I don't have many complaints about this movie and most of the flaws are minor enough to be overseen.
Dr. Lecter
