Movie Review #5: Der Untergang (Downfall)

Der Untergang {trans: Downfall} (2004)
Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel
Writer(s): Bernd Eichinger
Starring: Bruno Ganz, Alexandria Maria Lara, Corianna Harfouch

There will always be movies about the WWII and the Holocaust: put together, the two are the greatest tragedies ever to befall mankind. It's a true story so horrific that we cannot help but tell it over and over again. Each time, we feel a new shock. Some have called Hollywood's fascination with the Holocaust a morbid and, indeed, exploitative fixation. By making so many movies about the Holocaust, Hollywood is gradually desensitizing us to it. Sure, some films like Shoah may be appropriate, but the rest of the films just seem to capitalize on the tragedy. As for me, I hold the position that so long as there is one Holocaust denier in the world (and, trust me, there are plenty), we have an obligation to continue telling the story. And, so long as global cinema is able to tell the story of the Holocaust and the fall of Nazi Germany in new, interesting, yet historically accurate, ways, I will sit down and try to seek a greater understanding any day.

But what happens when one looks at WWII from the point of view of the homicidal maniacs? All reasonable people know that championing the Nazis as heroes is a morally despicable action (i.e. Triumph of the Will) , but what if one looked at the Nazis not as evil monsters but as human beings? It's an approach almost no one is willing to take, but Oliver Hirschbiegel took it. Der Untergang is one of the most challenging WWII films I've ever seen - grisly, gripping, horrific, and, overall, chilling.

Looking through the eyes of one of Hitler's personal secretaries, Traudl Junge, we witness the last days of Adolf Hitler and Josef Goebbels as Allied forces advance upon Berlin. Our perspective shifts from time to time, as we look through the eyes of doctor Ernst-Gunther Schenck and SS captain Wilhelm Mohnke, but our focus is on the actions within Hitler's bunker. We see every plan fail, every safeguard destroyed, every last hope shattered. We then bear witness to more suicides than can be counted, as the desperation of the battle of Berlin and the demise of Adolf Hitler takes its toll on the emotionally crippled Nazi leaders and Hitler Youth members.

Bruno Ganz masterfully plays Adolf Hitler, slowly slipping even further into madness. His outbursts, though infamously parodied on Youtube, are almost hypnotic: this is a man wholly deranged and at the end of his rope. Any sympathy we feel for him derives from his body language and physical weakness; every word he says is full of hatred and faux-compassion. Indeed, Hitler cites the Holocaust as his only victory in the war. We know he is a sick man in every sense of the word. The film shows that Hitler had some compassion for his dog and some kindness towards his secretaries, but most of this is but a disguise for the twisted lunatic hidden beneath. Bruno Ganz practically turns Adolf Hitler into Macbeth, a person with some sympathetic elements but a morally corrupt and insane person at heart.

None of the other performances are on par with Ganz's, but nearly everyone gives an adequate turn. Alexandra Maria Lara is perfectly fine as Traudl Junge, evoking the spirit of someone young and far in over her head. Christian Berkel and Andre Hennicke both do fine jobs as Schenck and Mohnke, the two Nazis to which the film shows genuine sympathy. Ulrich Matthes and Corinna Harfouch are absolutely frightening as the Goebbels; though one generally doesn't think of the Nazi minister of propaganda as one of the most evil members of the Third Reich, this film certainly hammers in the horror. My pick for the best underrated performance is that of Ulrich Noethen as Heinrich Himmler, the most despicable Nazi to ever live, and quite possibly the most evil man in human history. Of all the Nazis in the film, he is the only one to evoke a presence of pure evil. And, to be honest, a man as cruel as him deserves such a treatment.

One key element Der Untergang wholly understands is that film is a visual medium. It is the images of Der Untergang that remain rather than any particular performance or plot point. The putting down of Hitler's dog. The execution of "cowardly" Hitler Youth members in the street. A bucket of sawed off limbs in a military hospital. The barrel of a gun, hammer cocked, pointed at the temple of a man's head. A lone boy dragging a bike out of the mud, just hoping to escape. One could have silenced the film during these moments, and one would still remember every detail. We see that those killed in the blitzkrieg and the Holocaust were not the only victims of Nazi terror; the German citizenry itself proved to be another casualty of Nazi cruelty. Through Hitler's unwillingness to surrender and evacuate Berlin, he condemned his entire country.

Even more frightening is the fanaticism displayed by the Nazi leaders. I have not seen another film with more suicides; indeed, even Book V of Tacitus's Annals doesn't contain as many suicides as the third act of Der Untergang. Most point to the death of the Goebbels' children as the single most horrifying moment of the film. The scene is effective, no doubt; watching Magda Goebbels murder her children rather than have them live without National Socialism is mortifying. But I think the death of Magda and Josef is even more disturbing. The camera pans away from Josef shooting his wife and then himself, showing us instead the crew of men armed with oil cans and matches, ready to burn the bodies. It is as if we the audience should consider this suicide a procedural measure, as they did. Personally, this makes the moment all the more disturbing.

Now, I must address the elephant in the room. If anyone has spent more than a half hour's time on Youtube, one will find thousands upon thousands of Der Untergang parodies, in which the scenes of Hitler ranting are overlayed with new subtitles. Most of the time, Hitler complains about the most fickle mundane subject matter possible. I've watched more than a few of these parodies, and some of them are quite funny. But, after actually watching Der Untergang, I don't think I can ever look at one of them the same way. Certainly, their irreverence is funny, but it is irreverence nonetheless. And one cannot help but feel kind of disgusted when seeing moments of a dark, harrowing film being used to decry the latest album from Justin Bieber.

For Der Untergang is an adult movie, uncompromising in its visuals and its message. This is a story of how collective ignorance and dependence led to the rise and fall of one of the most evil men in history. This is the story of fanatics willing to kill themselves rather than let a perverse ideology die. This is a story about abandoning the ignorance of youth and taking up the responsibility that comes with anyone of any age. Der Untergang ends with a clip of the real Traudl Junge saying, "Of course, the terrible things I heard from the Nuremberg trials about the 6 million Jews and the people of other races who were killed were facts that shocked me deeply. But I wasn't able to see the connection with my own past. I was satisfied that I wasn't personally to blame and that I hadn't known about those things. I wasn't aware of the extent. It is no excuse to be young, and it would have been possible to find things out." There is a burden on all of us to seek the truth. In their frivolity, the Der Untergang parodies miss the point of the film entirely. While a Der Untergang parody may take but 10 minutes to make and has the intellectual value of a Stuart Woods "novel," the actual film is a masterpiece.

Recommendation: Der Untergang is not a film to show kids. There are plenty of other, less graphic, films that can begin to tell the story of Nazi Germany in a more sensitive way than Der Untergang. Nonetheless, everyone over 16 should watch this film. I think there is a moral value to be found in here that one will not find in many other places. It is a brilliant piece of work.

I give Der Untergang 9.3 stars out of 10.