Downfall
2004 · Directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel
Original language: German
- drama
- history
- war
The story
In April of 1945, Germany stands at the brink of defeat with the Russian Army closing in from the east and the Allied Expeditionary Force attacking from the west. In Berlin, capital of the Third Reich, Adolf Hitler proclaims that Germany will still achieve victory and orders his generals and advisers to fight to the last man. When the end finally does come, and Hitler lies dead by his own hand, what is left of his military must find a way to end the killing that is the Battle of Berlin, and lay down their arms in surrender.
What it’s like
Claustrophobic bunker interiors in sickly fluorescent and lamplight, the walls sweating with damp and the corridors lit in dull yellow, while the Berlin outside is shown only through shaking ceilings, dust sifting from concrete and distant artillery thuds. Camera work is mostly handheld and close, pressing into faces at tables and in cramped rooms, with long unbroken takes that let tension build without cutting away. The palette is drab khaki, grey and bruised brown, and the score is sparse and low, so silence and the rattle of boots carry much of the weight. Vibe: suffocating, grim, quietly despairing, the mood of a building that is slowly dying with its occupants. It suits a serious, attentive evening rather than casual viewing. Its pacing is deliberate and its register is restrained but relentless, following a circle of officials, secretaries and staff as they confront denial, loyalty and the slow collapse of a regime. Violence is mostly off-screen or brief, but the film contains suicide, a poisoning scene involving children, executions and deaths in combat and the city above; it is harrowing rather than gory. Intended for viewers interested in historical drama who can sit with heavy, disturbing material and want an unflinching, human-scaled account of the final days.
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