Going Down

For a while now, Netflix has been suggesting that I should watch a 2004 movie called Downfall. Actually, it's called "Der Untergang," as it's originally a German movie. It chronicles the last few days in Adolf Hitler's bunker, from his last birthday to his death.

It's also the source of a notorious internet meme. You've probably seen a few of the seeming thousands of "Hitler throws a hissyfit" videos, where subtitles have him ranting about everything from vuvuzelas at the World Cup, to the breaking of his Rock Band drum pedal, to his own appearance in all these Downfall parody videos. Needless to say, some of these videos are better than others.

I decided to take the plunge and watch the movie, not sure what to expect. I suppose I did expect that the infamous rant scene would be rendered too comical to appreciate, but I was wrong on that count. Context matters, and the quality of the performance is enough to overcome the specter of a thousand parody videos.

About that actor. The man is Bruno Ganz, and he gives a really great performance. Besides capturing Hitler's speech patterns, accent, and mannerisms, he actually brings a depth to the role. I don't want to say he makes him sympathetic in any way, because the dialogue (some of which is said to be factual) and indeed history itself assures this is impossible. But it's not a caricature. There are nuances and textures in the role. I've also read that this was the first time an actor ever played Hitler in a German movie; cultural taboos basically forbid that all these years, so any representation of Hitler was through actual footage of the man himself.

But while it may be a hell of a performance, it's not much of a movie. There aren't any surprises here, of course. And while the film supposes to focus more on the secretaries that worked for Hitler, the film doesn't really stay true this concept, showing us too many scenes where those characters aren't involved at all. It also proves a repetitive film, as one Nazi after another commits suicide in a dramatically stagnant procession.

I imagine that history buffs will like this movie better than I did. I approached it simply as a dramatic film, and found it mostly unsatisfying. I'd rate it a C-.