Downfall (2 Disc Edition) [DVD] [2005]

Amazon.co.uk Review The riveting subject of Downfall is nothing less than the disintegration of Adolph Hitler in mind, body, and soul. A 2005 Academy Award nominee for best foreign language film, this German historical drama stars Bruno Ganz as Hitler, whose psychic meltdown is depicted in sobering detail, suggesting a fallen, pathetic dictator on the verge on insanity, resorting to suicide (along with Eva Braun and Joseph and Magda Goebbels) as his Nazi empire burns amidst chaos in mid-1945. While staging most of the film in the claustrophobic bunker where Hitler spent his final days, director Oliver Hirschbiegel dares to show the gentler human side of der Fuehrer, as opposed to the pure embodiment of evil so familiar from many other Nazi-era dramas. This balanced portrayal does not inspire sympathy, however: We simply see the complexity of Hitler's character in the greater context of his inevitable downfall, and a more realistic (and therefore more horrifying) biographical portrait of madness on both epic and intimate scales. By ending with a chilling clip from the 2002 documentary Blind Spot: Hitler's Secretary, this unforgettable film gains another dimension of sobering authenticity. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com Product Description Controversial and award-winning German drama about the final days of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime. Bruno Ganz plays the German dictator who, as the Russians close in towards Berlin, retreats to his bunker with his fiancée Eva Braun (Juliane Köhler), his private secretary Traudle Junge (Alexandra Maria Lara), and his propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels (Ulrich Matthes). His mood ranging from violent rage to pessimistic defeat, Hitler attempts to deny the inevitable as the other occupants of the bunker deal with the prospect of their impending death at the hands of the Russians. Goebbels kills his family before committing suicide, while Hitler finally marries Eva Braun in a ceremony that precedes their own suicide by hours. With only Junge surviving, the Red Army closes in and takes the capital.