Adolf Hitler was an evil man.
This statement might seem obvious, with the Holocaust and all sorts of evil working against him. However, this same statement makes \Downfall"" quite intriguing.
The Academy Award nominated ""Downfall"" tells the story of Hitler's last days-how he reacted to the Russian advance, his relationship with Eva Gardner and how many in that Berlin bunker worshiped him.
""Downfall"" depicts Hitler in a thoroughly human light. Even his admirers realize he has faults-his common mood swings and illogical plans of attack cause dissention in the ranks. However, they fear the man far too much to speak up and blindly follow his orders. Even when the German forces get torn to bits, Hitler remains determined to keep his plans in action.
Bruno Ganz takes on the difficult task of humanizing Hitler. It would be easy for him to present a parody of Hitler. Ganz could have played Hitler as a parody, with constant yelling and goose-stepping-this depiction would have been the easy way out, one where an evil man is a cartoon.
However, Ganz gives Hitler humility; he has moments of outbursts but also moments of silent contemplation, and moments where Hitler's Parkinson's disease crumbles his composure.
This humility actually makes ""Downfall"" an odd viewing experience. Everything learned about Hitler always presents him as the bad guy-everything from textbooks to movies such as ""Saving Private Ryan."" While he truly was the bad guy, it becomes awkward to see the human side of a man known for killing millions.
What makes ""Downfall"" truly interesting is observing the other characters observe Hitler's descent to his end. These unassuming characters knew little about the horrors of the Holocaust-they viewed Hitler as a man who helped reunite and lift up Germany. His demise causes somber moments within the film, and it feels odd to identify with these characters' sadness over the suicide of Hitler.
The only real shortcoming of ""Downfall"" comes from its ambition. Aside from depicting Hitler, many other famed people from the Nazi stable make appearances-Joseph Goebbels, Eva Braun, Heinrich Himmler and many others. Their stories and relation to Hitler are all interesting; however, they do not receive much screen time. Too many other characters gobble up screen time which could have been assigned to these people. Instead of seeing more of Goebbels, the audience gets minor scenes with Albert Speer or with the Hitler Youth.
While these scenes have some merit to the narrative, they come at the expense of further development of the other characters. With the exception of a tragic scene involving Goebbels' children, Goebbels really has little to do in the narrative. For a person so important to Hitler's regime, it feels awkward to limit him to such a small role.
The run time clocks in on the lengthy side at 155 minutes, but a director's cut exists in Europe which might fix this shortcoming and fill in the gaps on the other figures.
Even though Hitler was the 20th century's most evil person, ""Downfall"" forces the viewer to ignore this adjective and realize that he was indeed a human being with human shortcomings.
