28 Dec Downfall
Downfall, WWII Movie about the last days in Hitler’s bunker
(2004) Downfall depicts the last days of the Hitler’s Thousand Year Reich as he and his entourage self destruct in his Berlin bunker in 1945.
This German/Italian/Austrian film (German title is Der Untergang) is based on several books written about this period, including the memoirs of Traudl Junge, one of Hitler’s private secretaries who is the consistent character (besides Hitler) throughout. There are clips of her speaking at the beginning and at the end.
Some of the scenes appear to be very “normal” … Eva Braun throws a party and dances to the latest swing tune. The secretaries take a smoking break. The Goebbels’ six beautiful children sing a song for everyone.
Then you see Hitler screaming at everyone around him, hurling out attack orders that could never be carried out … his armies were devastated and surrounded by the Soviets. Hitler never allowed himself to admit that he was beaten until the very end. As for the German people, he had no mercy for them.
Many of his close followers shot themselves at the end. We all know what Magda Goebbels did. “The world that comes after the Führer and national socialism is not any longer worth living in and therefore I took the children with me, for they are too good for the life that would follow …”
The last living survivor of the Führerbunker is the radio operator, Rochus Misch. After this movie came out he was interviewed by BBC News.
I intend to rewatch Downfall with a full list of the players so I will better understand who was there, doing what during this morbidly fascinating twelve day period of history.
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