Published by: Justanotherlostlife

Uploaded on: 2008-04-25 10:25:40

Video Status: down:copyright:Constantin Film Produktion GmbH.

Down Since: 2009-12-25 20:25:13

Description: Downfall (German: Der Untergang) is a 2004 German / Austrian film depicting the final ten days of Adolf Hitler in his Berlin bunker and Nazi Germany in 1945, written by Bernd Eichinger, directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel, and based upon the books: Inside Hitler's Bunker, by historian Joachim Fest; portions of Albert Speer's memoirs; the memoirs of Traudl Junge, one of Hitler's secretaries; Hitler's Last Days: An Eye-Witness Account, by Gerhardt Boldt; doctor Ernst-Günther Schenck's memoirs; and the memoirs of Siegfried Knappe.<br /><br />Bruno Ganz:<br /><br />Although Bruno Ganz is the most recent German-speaking actor to play Hitler in a leading role in a German film, at least three other German-speaking actors have played the part in a prominent or leading role: the first was Albin Skoda in the movie Der letzte Akt from 1955 (directed by Georg Wilhelm Pabst), the second was Heinz Schubert in Hitler - ein Film aus Deutschland (Hitler - A Film From Germany 1978), and the third was Armin Mueller-Stahl in the movie Conversation with the Beast from 1996 (directed by Mueller-Stahl himself).[1] Downfall is a first in post-war German cinema because it depicts Hitler as a complex human rather than a caricature.<br /><br />Criticisms:<br /><br />The film has been criticised for its presentation of some characters apart from Hitler. Giles MacDonogh wrote:<br /><br /> "The film turned a butcher like SS-Brigadeführer Wilhelm Mohnke into an honourable soldier and the SS doctor Ernst-Günther Schenck into something approaching a Hollywood hero, despite the fact that he had carried out experiments on the prisoners in Nazi concentration camps."[7]<br /><br />Additionally, German film director Wim Wenders (not involved with the Untergang production) wrote a substantial editorial piece for the 21st October 2004 edition of the ZEIT feuilleton, in which he laid out several critical positions in response to the film's release. Specifically, he identified the filmmakers' collaboration with a history professor as a strategic move to compile cultural capital and move the film beyond the reach of reprehensibility, challenge, or contradiction by writers or critics unwilling to engage the material other than by pointing out historical inaccuracies; the film, he felt, broadcast the statement: »Wir wissen, wovon wir reden« ("We know what we're talking about"). Further, Wenders argued that Der Untergang could not be seen as presenting anything other than an uncritical viewpoint toward the barbarism of its subject matter, and accused the filmmakers of Verharmlosung [rendering harmless, neutralization]. Wenders supported this observation with close readings of the film's first scene, and of Hitler's (Ganz's) final scene, suggesting that in each case a particular set of cinematographic and editorial choices left each scene emotionally charged, leaving a glorifying effect.

Tags: Germany Der TV Untergang 2004 Underground Berlin Movie Bunker 1945 Ganz Adolf Film Bruno Trailer Hitler Downfall