FILM OF THE WEEK Downfall (2004)

9.00pm, Monday, Film 4

“You must be on stage when the curtain falls”

The last days of Adolf Hitler have been chronicled on screen before, most notably with Alec Guinness and Anthony Hopkins in the role of the dictator. Nothing however, quite prepares you for the power of the late Bruno Ganz’s portrayal. Based on the testimony of those who were there, notably Hitler’s secretary Traudl Junge (the subject of the fascinating documentary Blind Spot), Oliver Hirschbiegel’s lm faithfully recreates those 12 days that shook the world. The bunker is an exact replica and the communications that took place inside it are reproduced from eye-witness testimony.

As the Russians draw closer, we see a sick (he had Parkinson’s disease), delusional Hitler moving nonexistent defence forces around a map while his generals look on, each terri ed to be the one to break the bad news. We see the close cadre of fanatics, notably Josef and Magda Goebbels, who cannot envision life without their Führer and are prepared to take their own lives, and those of their children, when the end is in sight. We see an Eva Braun, grotesquely accepting her fate, yet trying to engender a party atmosphere even as the Russian bombs shake the walls around her. Some critics attacked the lm for showing a more humane side to the monster (his gentleness towards Blondi, his pet Alsatian, and his occasional kindness towards his secretary) but that only serves to make the ranting Austrian an even more terrifying gure.

As the rst major movie about Hitler by German lm-makers, Downfall is a hugely important work. It’s also a hugely impressive piece of cinema, superbly shot, remarkably sound designed (you can feel the Russian artillery drawing closer by the minute) and top-lined by an actor who was at the height of his considerable powers.