Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #739 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-09-19
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, PAL
• Original language: German
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 149 minutes

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

Synopsis
Charting the final days of World War II in Nazi Germany, DOWNFALL shows what went on in the bunker where Hitler (Bruno Ganz), his secretary (Alexandra Maria Lara), and a few close colleagues waited for their inevitable demise.

Customer Reviews

A magnificent piece of film making
I don't usually go in for watching foreign language films. Not because I dislike them, merely that living in the provinces mean we sadly don't get to see them up here! However, this had a limited run at a cinema in Birmingham and I was lucky enough to see it. This is a magnificent piece of film making.

Bruno Ganz in the lead role of Hitler is superb, capturing the very essence of the madness that was Hitler and the total self-delusion of the last days of the Third Reich. The contrast between his tenderness towards his secretaries and the complete disdain for the rest of the world is remarkable. Ganz acts out a very difficult role, but comes through with flying colours. The depiction of the secretary Traudl Junge is perhaps a little sentimentalised, but any film has to have some humanity. Perhaps she was blameless, perhaps not.

The films most chilling scene features the killing of the Goebbels children by their mother, played chillingly by Corinna Harfouch. This is particularly uncomfortable viewing.

The real reason that this film is so successful IS that it humanises the Nazis. One has a distinct respect and even sympathy with some of the characters. This is hard to take when we know what they accomplished and makes for very uncomfortable reflection. This is intelligent film-making and well worth giving over an evening for. Hitler and the end of the Reich have never been portrayed as well as this.

Brilliant
Having bought this as a spot purchase and knowing nothing about it beforehand, my wife and I watched it. To say we were surprised would be unfair but it was so much better than I could and would have imagined. The film focuses on the very end period of the war. Hitler, in his bunker with high ranking officers of the German army with his devoted secretary Traudl Junge. It is an astonishing piece of film. Bruno Ganz is superb as Adolf Hitler. His performance ranks as one of the best I have ever witnessed. It is simply breathtaking. I would recommend this film to anyone with an interest in the 2nd World War as this focus on the very last parts of the War is very well scripted and filmed. It is one of the best films in my extensive collection. Buy it and you will be buying a masterpiece.

One of the best films ever
Watch it. You have to.
To make sense of what happened.
It moved me.
Hitler was a shockingly 'good' leader in the WORST sense of the word - to make all these people follow him and do all these horrific things. Their loyalty to him is amazing. It shook me up to see how something so dreadful can make such sense to some people. I'm not given the plot away but the bit with the 'children' - sleeping - for the parents to do that, was so scary!! How can people do such a thing? How can people be so deluded?? It is a brilliant film that only can come from Germany - which makes it even more important than these American war movies. It was on the TV the other day and I only caught the last 10 minutes. But even that drew me in. If you are patient with subtitles - watch it. I might read the book.
And the last few lines in the whole thing makes you sick in the stomach. I came out of it, watching it in the cinema - stunned - that human kind could be driven in such a way.
One of the best movies I've ever seen as the effects of this made such an impact on our world.