+Felpe Scándalo This isn't Wikipedia, smartass. If you really wanna know, use the technology society has provided to you. You're not a skeptic, you're just lazy.
@lee hamlin If you think that "the Reader" was a Nazi film, you probably misunderstood it. Yes, it has a commentary on Nazis and it deals with the question about the next generation, that was very prominent in Germany at the time but it isn't about Nazis, it is about something i don't want to mention because it might spoil the movie or the book to others to others. But him playing a lecturer in that movie was weird to me. I could only see and hear Hitler when watching the german version of the movie. Still a great performance
I grew up in the German countryside and our town had only a single tiny cinema with maybe 150 seats. Our school offered every student who had already covered WW2 in class to skip a day of school to go see this movie and took care of the entry fee. I expected nothing from it, being 16 and just wanting to get out of class for a day. I was completely blown away and it remains one of my favorite movies to this day.
I watched it about 2 years ago, the portrayal of Hitler amazed me since it captured quite well how people close to him said that he was. Kind of like the book Darkest Hour shows how Churchill was not the paragon of virtue that many portray him as these days
@@themadhammer3305 Nope. Both autobiographies from Erich Kempka and Rochus Misch each contradict the information portrayed in this "movie". And if you have to ask who Erich Kempka and Rochus Misch were then your ignorance eon this matter is noted.
The first scene always scared me the most. Hitler enters and looks like a kindly old fashioned bank manager. A quiet, unasuming harmless old man. When he starts to dictate his speech and the girl can't keep up transcribing and starts to panic, he doesn't admonish her or shout at her. He leans over and kindly says "Maybe we should start again." And you chuckle then *instantly* freeze cold. Because for one instant, you just liked Hitler. Immediately I was hooked on the movie and Bruno Ganz's incredible performance.
What scared me most is the scene where Magda Goebbels kills her own children. She wants to spare them the tragedy of defeat and the humiliation that the allies will make them endure, it is both abominable and brave. I froze there. Oh Gosh, I swear, the actress must have remorse for playing this scene... I wouldn't fancy her in that position. During that scene I thought: "Here we are, it all has come to this, how did we get there in the first place? Desperation, sutpidity, cowardice, malice?"
I get that people view Hitler as a monster but we have to realize that there are a lot of people with similar (even worse) thoughts even today. Since the Internet allowed us to hide behind the veil of anonymity we are witnessing people rationalizing and even denying some of the worst events that humanity experienced, such as holocaust, genocides, etc. People are now free to express what they really think, which is a good thing of course, however the outcome is truly terrifying.
funny how non germans often times think he was a monster in his daily routines lol. there are many interviews from people who worked directly with hitler, for example rochus misch, they all say he was just a normal guy in private. he didnt scream or talk loudly nor did he punish you with death just because you made a mistake. no human in the world, no matter who it is or was, no matter how evil, is 100% bad. no mass murderer is 100% bad.
@@moonpixie3634 Actually by most accounts, Hitler was a very charming and gracious man with his private guests. He especially loved the company of women and children. He was only the caricature of an inhuman monster when he was doing his thunderous speeches in front of thousands of people.
Let's be honest, we all know that this was probably one of the bedt, if not the best acting performance in cinema. He did not need an oscar to know this.
Der Untergang is among the best ww2 films ever. It respects history, and portrays Hitler and his inner circle as real people. Evil and twisted people, but still people. and unlike most Hollywood movies, it shows that war is truely horrible. simply fantastic.
Yes that is it exactly. Properly the last time we will see such a true portrayal of the war. The next time we see a movie like it it will show the brown shirts marching in the streets until they are blocked by "the kids of the left and BLM" who will give them a good explaining and school them to such a degree that they will be ashamed and discard their lederhosen and armbands en masse. Then everyone will slow clap and WWII will be over. Roll credits and fade to black, the end.
I know it seems like that this movie changes every time I see a UA-cam video on it, first call of duty then idk Robbie rotten death. So many changes man I can’t keep up
I saw this film just after it came out, in a crowded cinema in southern Germany. When the film ended and the credits came up, you could have heard a pin drop. A very powerful film.
Same for me. Everyone sat until the credits ended and then the crowd got out in absolute silence. I watched the movie in Nuremberg, the city of the Reichsparteitage.
Riiiight... except David Irving is a thoroughly discredited excuse for a historian with a blatant far right agenda. Spreading disinformation to "muddy the issue" doesn't make it true.
Bruno Ganz IS Hitler. Period. There will not be another actor playing Hitler that won't be compared to Bruno Ganz. His performance of Hitler is something that will be remembered forever and he will forever be remembered as THE Hitler. In the positive way I mean.
Totally agree. That performance is perfect and one of the best we will ever see by any actor. I would also recommend Daniel Day Lewis' acting in There Will be Blood. Mesmerizing.
Agreed - an EXCELLENT performance. I'm curious about Ganz's accent (if any) - I've read that Hitler had a pretty recognizable Austrian accent, for the German speakers out there, did Ganz pull it off (or could you hear Ganz's Swiss accent)?
@@ubaidurrehmantariq3160 Regrettable. Thanks for telling us, there was nothing in the news where I live as Bruno Ganz was not a silly mainstream Hollywood individual.
I just watched Downfall yesterday. Gobbels' wife poisoning the children in their sleep was more horrifying than any horror movie I've seen. I'll probably never forget that scene.
Yes. That scene has always stuck with me as well. I cannot begin to understand how someone is so taken over by an ideology that they think killing their own children is the moral thing to do. Absolutely horrifying.
@@Liz2257 they feared being taken by the Russians more than they feared death. Magda said that if they survived they would be hounded all their lives. She stated ‘"I would rather have my children die, than live in disgrace, jeered at. My children stand no chance in Germany after the war". The insanity of what was happening then is almost too much to contemplate. Their world was ending, much of Germany (especially Berlin) was in ruins. They were surrounded by death. Under such circumstances people make incomprehensible decisions. Definitely one of the most grim and awful moments of those last few days in the bunker.
On the other hand, its also heartbreaking that the parents not only killing the children, but thoroughly ruined their present and their future while making childrens while planning a war. These childrens are doomed from start because of something they couldn't control, while the actual culprit acting childish for their entire parenthood and wartime. Which is why the writing and plot of Downfall is hard to process but masterfully executed to spare the viewers from the even darker horrors than it shown.
tom kat no he died because of cancer, it hit me hard, when I heard about it, because I’m also a swiss filmmaker and I hoped, that I can work with him one day.
I saw this movie for the first time at the 2003? 2004? Toronto International Film Festival and saw the director and several actors including Bruno Ganz do a Q+A after the film. Next day I went to the film Wim Wenders had at that years TIFF and because I arrived late I was forced to sit in one of the front rows along with another late comer. We had a delightful chat about great films that we had seen at the festival. There were a steady stream of people coming up and congratulating this gentleman on his film. It slowly dawned on me that I was sitting next to Bruno Ganz ( silly me, I didn’t recognize him without the mustache) At that moment he was just a film lover like myself wanting to see the latest film of his old director in “Wings of Desire” A delightful gentleman and a wonderful memory for me. RIP Bruno Ganz
@Edward Burgess No, Bruno Ganz was Swiss. We don‘t have a huge movie business in Switzerland, let alone world class actors. But Bruno Ganz was certainly one of them.
@@bregjejabra25 what propaganda ? Everything in the movie was real, the final days of hitler as it was, as per traudl. She was there and spoke of what she saw and that is presented in the film. What do you have to top that ??? and why should i believe you instead of her ???
@@shalindelta7 Well, not that I'd wanna be on the side of people who say it's "propaganda"... But to be fair, there have been some misgivings over Junge's testimony.For example, there are some who claim that her interactions with Hitler couldn't have been as frequent and "personal" as she proposes in her books, because according to other sources (like Göring), Hitler never actually dictated letters, or orders, to his secretaries. Instead he always wrote everything by hand, had it typed out in separate pieces (often by 3 different people), and then burned the original. Göring said that Hitler continued this strange practice despite already suffering heavily from Parkinson's, which lead to orders sometimes being loosely "interpreted" by German commanders because they didn't make any damn sense (and no one dared to tell Hitler that this was due to his illegible handwriting). Although, I should add that this came from a man who was known to be a pathological liar, and who was clearly fishing for _any_ excuse to escape the gallows at Nuremberg... But still. Of course since it's a movie, it also took some artistic liberties with the source-material. But, it made for a magnificent movie, though.
My grandmother was 9 years old in Berlin when the war ended. Watching this movie knowing that just made it all the more real. She could remember being in one of those bunkers with all the civilians and wounded soldiers. She said there was a U-boat captain in hers and everyone treated him with respect because they were so respectful of the U-boats. It's just unreal to think something like that ever happened.
Yes Bruno Ganz is a swiss actor, but from the german speaking part of Switzerland and he acted in Germany since the 1960s, so no wonder he has no problem with the language. Plus at the time of this movie he had already won several awards. Sadly ever since that movie it seems that only rarely has anyone tried to portray Nazis outside of stereotypes. Germany did it from time to time but the most recent American film I have seen was Race and that one also had lots of stereotypes and outright lied about history.
Hitler wasn't born a German either but rather Austrian. And after becoming a German citizen he spent several years in Bavaria. So a Swiss actor might actually be closer in dialect than a German actor from Berlin or Northern Germany.
I’m sorry, but there is nothing intentionally ironic about your screen name. It is rather a perfectly fitting description of you. Not only is your statement that Austrians are Germans incorrect but the way you respond proves that you are precisely what your screen name says.
I appreciate any WW2 movie that isn't bluntly going for a "Germans are bad and stupid, mkay?" theme. Me and many other Germans are so tired by this imagine being transported in movies. Today, many many people just think Germans are bad people in general because of false information being carried on in history. So much went wrong all around the world in the 20th century. It's all so incredibly more complicated than that. There were extremist governments everywhere on the planet... This massive tragedy could happen anytime again to any country. And I'm very certain lots of other people will agree to this.
Cian McCabe I agree with both of you. Give it time and people will eventually forgive and move on. Main reason the horrors of WW2 is still fresh in people's minds is because many people who lived during the war are still alive. The reaction to WWI was very similar too, many people disavowed the Germans after that war (even if they weren't the ones to start it) but 100 years later it's just general history and nothing else.
Agreed. Under the right circumstances what happened in Germany could have happened anywhere.The power and sophistication of Germany was what made it so earthshaking. And if Germany had won the spin on what happened would have been different. Stalin is still grudgingly admired by a lot of people.
I am 68. My Dad went to war in WW2 and come in contact with many German soldiers. As I was growing up, I never heard him speak badly of those men. To him they were simply men like himself who spoke a different language. But that generation has almost all died off, and for the most foolish reasons we all will start over
One scene I love so much is.... When Hitler and Eva are going into room just before suicide. Then, Gobbels wife came and requests and begs security guard for last meeting with Hitler. She begs Hitler to leave Berlin. But, Hitler denies her request. This is is one of the iconic scenes in history of cinemas.
Downfall truly is a masterpiece. You should also cover the 1993 film, "Stalingrad". Arguably one of the best WW2 films ever made. Extremely authentic, and realistic. It would make an amazing companion piece to Downfall.
Thomas Kretschmann was in Stalingrad (1993 and 2013), Downfall, The Pianist, Valkyrie, and many more ww2 movies, he is a great actor and I wouldn’t be surprised if he kept one of the uniforms.
LOL I love it when stupid people like a movie, know almost nothing about history and immediately brand it as realistic and historical. Next on too dumb to be unbiased: "I like ice-cream, so it's healthy!"
I've seen this movie countless times. Hitler is shown to be more complex than the Snidely Whiplash portrayal we usually get. All of the acting is believable.
I've always been interested in this film. And I really don't understand people that have a problem with showing Hitler as a human being. All beings are capable of making morally good or bad decisions. Evil is not some mythological entity that doesn't exist like some horror monster, the potential to commit evil acts is in all people and should not be shied away from. As you said, to make Hitler a monster makes him and Nazism look more storybook and less real that it leaves people open to falling into an ideology just as bad, if not worse than Nazism because of someone that comes off as intelligent and having all those aspects that make them seem like a good leader. I really should watch this film; not just because it is a good movie but a good historical one at that. Something that I should really look at due to my interest in World War 2 history.
My father actually is in "Der Untergang/Downfall" (2:45 he's the one on the far left, 6:25 front row in black uniform), so I heared a few stories from set. What always fascinated me about this film is the incredible attention to detail. You can feel the authensity every scene, every frame and every second. They made sure everything, from the mannerism to the fabric of the clothes is as close to reality as possible. Everybody was working so hard to make this movie, because they understood the importance of it and I think it really shows. It's truly a masterpiece, in my opinion. Thank you for the video, great work.
We also see Hitler's last days. Most footage of Hitler shows him during his rise to power and at the height of his power - ranting and raving in front of mass crowds. This is Hitler when everything he'd believed in and worked for had collapsed. Psychologically it's powerful as he's going through grief stages like denial and anger. Right at the end in this film he talks about Germany needing more oil - he can't quite deal with the fact that everything's collapsed. You see that in his political testament too - he denies any responsibility for the war and blames the Jews for starting it! He still tried to cling on to the Nazi ideology when it was at its end. The film portrays this expertly, showing his total collapse and his attempts to process it.
I remember when this movie came out some "reviewers" were criticizing a lack of judgmental condemnation. As if that were the movie's job in the first place. Well now we know what came of these moral busybodies...
Actually, the polish-born German literature critic Marcel Reich-Ranicki, himself a survivor of the Warsaw Ghetto, mocked the people who complained that Hitler was portrayed "as a human being", stating "As what should he be portrayed then? An elephant?"
In recent times, the Germans have produced at least three extremely accurate war films. In all of them, they have achieved high accuracy. Their goal was to achieve historical accuracy, and they have done it well. The films are, of course, Downfall, Das Boot, and Stalingrad. Well done!
To conclude your list "Die Brücke" the original version from the 50's (NEVER watch the remake!) about teenagers who a recruited for suicide mission to defend a bridge against the allies.
@@michaelbruns449 No but I read the book when I was about 14. My mother taught German and she loved Gunter Grass's books. I didn't understand much and was grossed out by a lot, but it was very compelling. I was too intimidated by my reading experience that I didn't dare watch it. 70 years old now. Maybe I should give it a look.
Definitely one of the best war flims ever,I bought on dvd years ago,a still watch,performances are amazing especiallyBruno ganz as hilter is one of the best ever
This film makes you feel like your are witnessing actual history. It’s filmed as a movie but comes across as a documentary. Ganz was brilliant! Many of the actors and actresses looked very similar to their real life counterparts. The utter destruction of Nazi Germany and how it is portrayed is incredible.
As a German I can only say: Great video! I think the importance of understanding how Nazism came to be is still of utmost importance. It can happen again (with it i mean a horrible ideology taking over a country). Liebe Grüße aus Deutschland
The great things about making villains human is that it's the way reality is. It's easy to make your enemies cartoonish, in real life and fiction. It's more terrifying exactly because it is more realistic.
I would argue that there are some indeed caricature villains out there (especially in shitholes of Africa). Germany was exception, not the rule - it was civilized country so it annihilated countless people is style.
@MinutemanSam there is, like African pirates with half-rotten AK-47 who are half dead from malnutrition anyway. Life of a human being is no more worthy than life of a fly in Africa and South America. You are too used to your western privileges to know worse. There is no protagonists there except UN troops and celebrities occasionally picking up the best child the shithole can offer.
The most important thing about portraying civilians as they were at a human scale is so we--today--cannot push them away and say, "well we'd never do that!" The point of the film is the people today might dismiss Hitler as an aberrant human, when he was very human, and the result was all the more monstrous because ordinary people--like me?--went along!
this film has been criticized in Germany for portraying Adolf Hitler as a real human, not as a monster or robot... brilliant movie, way ahead of its time
This is not quite correct. Apart from the BILD-Zeitung, which also only used the "How could they have done this"-angle as a point of raising attention about the movie, there was no major criticism about the portrayal of Hitler as a human being after the movie came out. Criticisms was made about other things, such as making Lara portray Junge wondering through the movie with wide eyed bewilderment all the time, giving Speer the decent role (in his one appearance in the film), that he had given himself in his inaccurate autobiography and the fact that all the major nazis like Hitler and Goebbels get the decency of an off-screen death, as if the camera accepts that these characters would rather be alone in these intensely private moments (although Hirschbiegel mostly did this because in these moments the actual historical events are not quite clear and he wanted to avoid discussions about these specific details). The criticism about portraying Hitler as a human being mostly came beforehand, while the movie was made and, to be fair, was for a large part, spawned by the production company itself to create publucity. Bernd Eichinger was quite a genius when it came to igniting discussions about potential controversial aspects in his movies, mostly hand in hand with BILD. After the movie came out, Bruno Ganz was almost universally lauded in Germany for his portrayal and the sucject of whether or not Hitler could be portrayed like that quickly died down. If anything, as I witnessed it, the question was more a point of discussion, when the movie came to English-speaking countries, but even there it was mostly just raised as an opener for discussions about the qualities of the movie.
But if you follow the movie and Hitler's monologues, dialogues and behavior, you clearly see how a monster he is. He's not portrayed much as a human... or at least doesn't give a human impression...
Amazing film and can't believe it lost the Oscar for Best Foreign Film. The true mastery were the scenes of Hitler breaking down in sorrow and the cult of personally which surrounded him. Brilliant filmmaking.
It's a great movie. One of the best war movies ever. Together with Das Boot and Stalingrad. Bruno Ganz was amazing. So sad he passed away.. Brilliant actor and the only one that could play this role in a believable fashion.
Lex, which Stalingrad (1993 or 2013 ?). I'm guessing 1993 one cuz that's the German storyline. I haven't watched neither, but would like to, hence asking.
Reminds me of when a double agent working for Britain ended up being so good at giving false information about where the d-day landings would be that he got awarded an iron cross for his service
@@polishherowitoldpilecki5521 Always the same thing. When someone speaks of German unity: "Austrians are a completely different, independent people!" When someone says that Hitler was Austrian: "NO HE WAS GERMAN"
Herman Urus I really don’t have anything against Austria and Germany uniting. Their both Germanic peoples to me. I’m pretty sure it’s patriotic Austrians that argue that their different.
@@polishherowitoldpilecki5521 (I'm canadian so I can't speak for all Austrians but I have met a large range of them as I'm the first in my dads family side born in canada) all of my Austrian family thinks that Germans and Austrians are separate culturally. most of them and the other family's and communities I've been think of themselves of Austrians. A lot of my family agree they are ethnically german too though.
I saw the movie with my brother in Toronto back in 04, and I was blown away at how good it was. It was haunting, and "too real", when Hitler was screaming in what we now know as the Hitler Meme, I really felt like I was being scolded and yelled at. It is a testament to Ganz's performance.
The late Marcel Reich-Ranicki, himself a survivor of the Warsaw Ghetto and one of post-war Germany's most prominent literature critics remarked, hearing of the "criticism" that the movie portrayed Hitler as a human being "As what should they have portrayed him instead? An elephant?"
If you look at recordings of Hitler's speeches today, with wild arm gestures, shouting, grand claims, he looks like an obvious madman, people today get the impression we could always spot someone like him, the Germans of the 1920's were fools not to spot it. However, two important points: one is that Hitler usually got more passionate towards the end, the climax, of his speeches - and these are generally the only bits we see today in most documentaries. Secondly, even politicians from democracies did very similar things - if you look at speeches made by people like Lloyd-George (British PM during and after WWI) and many others, they wave their arms, shake their fists, shout at the microphone - they look crazy as well, from a 21st-Century perspective. Downfall is a great window into the past, that few films or even documentaries get close to, outstanding.
It’s only really softened slightly. People react to passion, after all. It’s often said that it doesn’t matter what you say, as long as you show passion for it. Annoying, of course, to flog the dead horse, but look at Donald Trump; he may not flail and shake his fists as they did, but he still talks with his hands, he’s an expressive orator. And then consider how he won against a very muted, calm and inexpressive presidential candidate. Passion breeds a sense of trust and honesty, where such unemotional oration is likely to breed distrust and discontent.
Neil Griffiths Many of the things he said appealed to many people, it wasn't just hand gestures and confidence. His words made sense to many and well, as soon as they got the power they crushed their opposition.
Hitler became chancellor of Germany within the 'democatic' process of the ballot box and Hindenberg invited Hitler to form a government. Up to that point the normal checks and balances limited what he could do from the Bunderstag. Hitler then set about circumventing the checks and balances, to have the german people to swear allegiance to Hitler rather than the German state or other state organisation. Hitler gradually bullied, threatened, bashed and even had murdered, any who opposed him or his political philosophy. All of us are always potentially in a similar position unless we all monitor and protect our own institutions. So get involved.
It's a powerful and common oration trick. Start off shouting and waving your arms, and you'll turn people off because you look deranged. Start off rational, mellow, and soft spoken, but slowly amp up the energy as the speech progresses and the audience gets more involved, impassioned, and swept up in the spectacle.
This film received only a single Oscar nomination. It was in the category of Best Foreign Language Film. Which believe it or not, it didn't even win. But it deserved multiple nominations actually though. It should have received nominations in the categories of Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay & especially for Bruno Ganz either as Best Actor or Best Supporting Actor whichever would be most appropriate. This film is a masterpiece.
Great movie. It shows how a cultured nation can be brought to destruction. You have sympathy for the German civilians. The scene of all these people and German soldiers underneath the Reichstag is very powerful. You see law and order completely breakdown with as and mps rampaging through the city killing civilians because they could not fight. The military also turned on each other. Most difficult scene for me was the scene of magda gobbles killing her 6 children because she did not want them growing up in world without Nazism. Incrediable fanaticism and narcissistism. Deeply moving and disturbing. Great film.
15th generation holocaust survivor Not necessarily, there actually was a suicide wave because many people could not imagine to live in a Germany without Htiler, not much to do with soviets. And I'm pretty sure Goebbels status in the Nazi Regime would have given him and his family pretty much immunity from everything except the oncoming Nürnberg trial.
Dedicated Nazis did commit suicide on the Western front but the common people just stayed calm and went along with things. The Eastern Front was like the apocalypse, divisions destroyed themselves to buy time for civilians to flee west, women were drowning themselves in rivers. Entire cities of old men and young boys took up arms to delay the russians by any means necessary.
@@nstice1 They shouldn't have went into USSR like a freaking exterminators then.Red army soldiers then wouldn't carry a wrath and revenge for burned cities,villages and dead compatriots and family.
Bullshit. Magda Goebbels could have surrendered to the Americans and got protection for herself and her children. That was her privilege. The millions of ordinary citizens had no such protection from the Soviet savagery.
Of the smaller roles in the film I would like to mention Corinna Harfouch who was excellent as Magda Goebbels. The scene where she leaves the bedroom of her children after having murdered them and walks over to a table and starts to frantically shuffle a deck of cards with a blank face expression is just perfect.
Yes I agree, also worth mentioning, the english subtitles are very easy to read, in-fact, you don't realise that you are actually reading them. Hearing the film in the German language obviously adds to the realism. Certainly would not of worked had it been made in english
The fall of Berlin is easily one of the most dramatic and profound events in world history. And this film perfectly captures the drama and the tension and the anxiety in that bunker.
One of the most dramatic and profound events in recent history. But as terrible as it was, there are many battles, sieges, falls of great cities, that can compete for the title. The fall of Assyria. The destruction of Carthage. The sacking of Rome. The sacking of Baghdad. The fall of Constantinople. The fall of Tenochtitlán. The rape of Nanking. The Siege of Leningrad. The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki... To mention a few. And these are just cities...
As a history undergraduate, I love this movie. It is refreshing to see the leaders of the Reich portrayed as people and not just as cartoonish villains, as even in my subject of choice they often are, not just in film. They are not one dimensional characters for use in a story. They were real people. It is important to see people, even those who have done awful things, as people. This is true in history, as in philosophy, and as in psychology. This film is an excellent example of a perspective which I would love to be replicated in future films. Unfortunately, I do not foresee that happening any time soon. To portray men with conviction and reason as monsters who do only for evil is to do a grand disservice to our species. How can we prevent needless repetition of disaster if we know only the result and not the stepping stones and reason that came before?
I completely agree, though I have to add in. When the boy's father reprimands the children in the HJ and tells them to go home and stop playing war is one of my favorite scenes. It shows the disconnect between the young ideologically driven youth and the older, jaded realistic veterans.
I enjoy your content lad! I’ve very much appreciated this relatively recent change in your tone and performance. You’re telling things straight and how you see them without PC or any other bias. I enjoy that immensely
This movie, IMO, was about the people around Hitler moreso than it was about Hitler himself. The choice to select a Traudl Junge (a mundane employee) as the main character was central to the goal of the movie. I disagree slightly with this video in that I don’t think the movie was trying to say that Hitler could have made different chocies. Maybe he couldn’t have. But that shouldn’t have mattered. Hitler was a dog chasing cars, and it was the choice of everyone around him to elevate him to Godlike status that was the true instigator of WWII and the Holocaust. The pivotal point of the movie is the point where Hitler’s closest staff watches him confront the reality of the loss of the war, and the illusion that Hitler was in control of the situation was finally shattered. These people needed to believe that someone was in control, that someone had destiny on their side, because the idea that nobody is in control is terrifying. But in an instant, Hitler’s staff are forced to confront the reality they were trying to avoid from the start. In a sane society, people like Hitler (dogs chasing cars) are not given total control of society. They may still be irreversibly mad, they may still have an unshakable desire to do horrible things to those they dislike, but in isolation, they’re relatively harmless. But to see in that type of person an interminable certainty about the world and envy it is where the catastrophe begins.
Every high school student should be required to watch and discuss “Downfall”, “Sophie Scholl”, and the much earlier “Die Brücke” (The Bridge) with the brilliant Fritz Wepper as one of a group of high school kids torn from their mothers and forced into the last gasp defense of their homeland. Tragic. Haunting, all three.
I screened this film when I was a projectionist. I hated screening it, not because it was a bad film but because it was so realistic and terrifying. It is an amazing film and needed to be made. Film making at its finest.
I think at this period of time, the messages ages well about the importance of history so that we can prevent history from repeating itself. We are seeing how worlds have been divided and hatred are visible amongst communities.
I like this movie because it's a very emotionally moving film that shows the audience how the consequences of evil can be extremely costly if good people remain silent at the threat of evil.
The lives of others movie at the extra features has an interview with the Stazi agent actor. He says it was a true story and HE was in reality the guy who was saved by a humanistic Stazi agent. He portrayed the person who saved him as a tribute.
The first time I actually saw this film was when I was about 10 or so, and I remember wondering, "How in the world did they videotape Hitler and his entourage with colorization?"
Color film was actually invented by this time. Although it was very expensive and not in widespread use. But color film clips of Hitler actually exists.
completely agree, not only one of the best war films ever, but one of the greatest films of all time. I have the dvd. A must have for the collector. Acting is amazing. if you haven't seen it, see it now!
Ron Rosen in his book "Explaining Hitler" said the same thing bout understanding the dynamics at play in German society and in Hitler's family of origin that created Hitler and allowed him and the nazi's to take over. That you can't just pawn it off to evil but to understand it so it to keep it from happening again. That what took place in Germany took place in one of the most advanced civilizations in the world. As an American I am frightened to see this with Trump supporters who can't see how dangerous he is and how many of them there are. I agree with the psychiatrist I saw in the doc Unfit who does compare Trump to Hitler because Trump is willing to do anything for power and both are narcissist. Trump will not concede that he lost the election and it was "rigged" and all of his minions and flying monkeys are enabling him and undermining democracy. This is truly scary that this is happening in the U.S. at this point in time. This is why it's important to understand NAZI Germany and Hitler because it can happen anywhere at any time.
Many historians have said that Bruno Ganz' performance is the closest we'll ever get to who Hitler really was.
lee hamlin that’s not a Nazi film.
Historians such as?
+Felpe Scándalo This isn't Wikipedia, smartass. If you really wanna know, use the technology society has provided to you. You're not a skeptic, you're just lazy.
I honestly can believe that.
@lee hamlin If you think that "the Reader" was a Nazi film, you probably misunderstood it. Yes, it has a commentary on Nazis and it deals with the question about the next generation, that was very prominent in Germany at the time but it isn't about Nazis, it is about something i don't want to mention because it might spoil the movie or the book to others to others.
But him playing a lecturer in that movie was weird to me. I could only see and hear Hitler when watching the german version of the movie. Still a great performance
I grew up in the German countryside and our town had only a single tiny cinema with maybe 150 seats. Our school offered every student who had already covered WW2 in class to skip a day of school to go see this movie and took care of the entry fee. I expected nothing from it, being 16 and just wanting to get out of class for a day. I was completely blown away and it remains one of my favorite movies to this day.
I watched it about 2 years ago, the portrayal of Hitler amazed me since it captured quite well how people close to him said that he was. Kind of like the book Darkest Hour shows how Churchill was not the paragon of virtue that many portray him as these days
@@mattkierkegaard9403 Go away please
@@mattkierkegaard9403 How could any sane human being not be biased against it? Maybe you should rethink your life for a bit.
@@mattkierkegaard9403Fuck off and eat Shit, you god damn Nazi Piece of Trash!
@@themadhammer3305 Nope. Both autobiographies from Erich Kempka and Rochus Misch each contradict the information portrayed in this "movie".
And if you have to ask who Erich Kempka and Rochus Misch were then your ignorance eon this matter is noted.
Bruno Gantz was so convincing as Hitler, he makes every other actors portrayal of Hitler look comical in comparison.
Yeah just check out the one where Alec Guinness portrayed him. Feels like satire in comparison.
He makes even Anthony Hopkins look bad.
But why makes this video a point out of Ganz being Swiss?
Even Hitler didn't start as a German but as an Austrian.
Oliver Masucci’s portrayal in Look Who’s Back was good too, but Bruno Ganz was the best.
@@Achill101 Because the Swiss speak German with a distinctive accent.
The first scene always scared me the most.
Hitler enters and looks like a kindly old fashioned bank manager. A quiet, unasuming harmless old man.
When he starts to dictate his speech and the girl can't keep up transcribing and starts to panic, he doesn't admonish her or shout at her. He leans over and kindly says "Maybe we should start again." And you chuckle then *instantly* freeze cold. Because for one instant, you just liked Hitler.
Immediately I was hooked on the movie and Bruno Ganz's incredible performance.
The scene with the sexy vampires scared me the most.
What scared me most is the scene where Magda Goebbels kills her own children. She wants to spare them the tragedy of defeat and the humiliation that the allies will make them endure, it is both abominable and brave. I froze there. Oh Gosh, I swear, the actress must have remorse for playing this scene... I wouldn't fancy her in that position.
During that scene I thought: "Here we are, it all has come to this, how did we get there in the first place? Desperation, sutpidity, cowardice, malice?"
I get that people view Hitler as a monster but we have to realize that there are a lot of people with similar (even worse) thoughts even today. Since the Internet allowed us to hide behind the veil of anonymity we are witnessing people rationalizing and even denying some of the worst events that humanity experienced, such as holocaust, genocides, etc. People are now free to express what they really think, which is a good thing of course, however the outcome is truly terrifying.
funny how non germans often times think he was a monster in his daily routines lol.
there are many interviews from people who worked directly with hitler, for example rochus misch, they all say he was just a normal guy in private. he didnt scream or talk loudly nor did he punish you with death just because you made a mistake.
no human in the world, no matter who it is or was, no matter how evil, is 100% bad.
no mass murderer is 100% bad.
@@moonpixie3634 Actually by most accounts, Hitler was a very charming and gracious man with his private guests. He especially loved the company of women and children. He was only the caricature of an inhuman monster when he was doing his thunderous speeches in front of thousands of people.
It does not feel like a film, it feels like restored HD footage of 1945. That's how good of a movie this is.
Facts!
Like a documentary team was in the bunker
Also do not forget all of the laughters we got from the parodies of this movie. 👏👏👏
With ai would it be possible to turn hitler speaches,videos and nazi items into hd 60 fps? could it be possible with AI?
Yooo for real
"This movie really makes you feel like Hitler."
- IGN
Wanna invade Poland?
Someone once said in a comment section : "You can't spell ignorance without IGN."
Wft ign means
@@rawitammarapala9061 You Son Of A Bitch, *IM IN*
I would like it but it has 420 likes and I don’t want to ruin it.
Ganz should have received an Oscar for his above and beyound protrayal. Im so sad that he has passed away.
@Inigo Bantok Thank you for that. The man was perfect for that role.
Oscar doesn't mean anything. Lot of rubbish got Oscars. Is a commercial corrupt system, thanks he never wanted be part of it
@@75opala very true
Let's be honest, we all know that this was probably one of the bedt, if not the best acting performance in cinema. He did not need an oscar to know this.
@abhishek sk the way the Oscars are going - nope it was not worthy of Bruno. Not by a long shot but we all know his performance was stellar.
Ganz should have deserved an oscar for his portrayal.
Downfall wasnt an American film tho
@@singulartrout they only give Oscars to totally shit film's now
They give Oscars to shit film's now
I agree, however could you imagine how batshit people would go if you have a Oscar for a portrayal of Hitler?
The Mad Hammer yeah it doesn’t matter how good the performance, that just would not happen in Hollywood
Der Untergang is among the best ww2 films ever. It respects history, and portrays Hitler and his inner circle as real people. Evil and twisted people, but still people. and unlike most Hollywood movies, it shows that war is truely horrible. simply fantastic.
Yes that is it exactly. Properly the last time we will see such a true portrayal of the war. The next time we see a movie like it it will show the brown shirts marching in the streets until they are blocked by "the kids of the left and BLM" who will give them a good explaining and school them to such a degree that they will be ashamed and discard their lederhosen and armbands en masse. Then everyone will slow clap and WWII will be over. Roll credits and fade to black, the end.
I Agree. Perhaps Schindlers list portrays the horrors even better.
Markus Zöggeler yes, just in a different perspective
Private Ryan is one of Hollywood exceptions, its war portrage is astonishing
@@Volgan16666 Isn't it the conservatives who complain that people call for violence against nazis?
Oh this is the film where HItler complains about Call of Duty and stuff. Yeah, I've seen that.
a decade of memes for the old gods.
I know it seems like that this movie changes every time I see a UA-cam video on it, first call of duty then idk Robbie rotten death. So many changes man I can’t keep up
@@StevioGaming1 Original meme was about Hitler getting banned from Xbox Live.
@@cyberdaemon it was a joke I made 10 months ago
@HQ See? Everywhere!
I saw this film just after it came out, in a crowded cinema in southern Germany.
When the film ended and the credits came up, you could have heard a pin drop.
A very powerful film.
Same for me. Everyone sat until the credits ended and then the crowd got out in absolute silence. I watched the movie in Nuremberg, the city of the Reichsparteitage.
Riiiight... except David Irving is a thoroughly discredited excuse for a historian with a blatant far right agenda. Spreading disinformation to "muddy the issue" doesn't make it true.
I see the UA-cam Nazi weirdos have shown up in droves.
@@jabom99 Yikes. Nazi apologists again!
Rendell001 you're just muddying the water with your rethoric. Also, nazis are not "far right" in any way.
The part where Hitler is talking to the kids is actually on film and they recreated it for this movie. It is creepy
Zack Olmert ua-cam.com/video/OqFhvKarYjU/v-deo.html starting at 02:54
It’s true but that happened about a month prior before Berlin was encircled
Bruno Ganz IS Hitler. Period. There will not be another actor playing Hitler that won't be compared to Bruno Ganz. His performance of Hitler is something that will be remembered forever and he will forever be remembered as THE Hitler. In the positive way I mean.
Pretty sure Hitler is Hitler. Recked with facts and logic
Totally agree. That performance is perfect and one of the best we will ever see by any actor. I would also recommend Daniel Day Lewis' acting in There Will be Blood. Mesmerizing.
Agreed - an EXCELLENT performance. I'm curious about Ganz's accent (if any) - I've read that Hitler had a pretty recognizable Austrian accent, for the German speakers out there, did Ganz pull it off (or could you hear Ganz's Swiss accent)?
Sadly he died on 16 Feb 2019
@@ubaidurrehmantariq3160 Regrettable. Thanks for telling us, there was nothing in the news where I live as Bruno Ganz was not a silly mainstream Hollywood individual.
All of the dislikes are from Fegelien.
BRINGEN SIE MIR FEGELEIN
FEGELEIN!!! FEGELEIN!! FEGELEIN!!!
LMAO!
Wtf
Fliyo MB Stalin created accounts and spammed dislike
Hahaha!
I just watched Downfall yesterday. Gobbels' wife poisoning the children in their sleep was more horrifying than any horror movie I've seen. I'll probably never forget that scene.
Yes. That scene has always stuck with me as well. I cannot begin to understand how someone is so taken over by an ideology that they think killing their own children is the moral thing to do. Absolutely horrifying.
@@Liz2257 they feared being taken by the Russians more than they feared death. Magda said that if they survived they would be hounded all their lives. She stated ‘"I would rather have my children die, than live in disgrace, jeered at. My children stand no chance in Germany after the war".
The insanity of what was happening then is almost too much to contemplate. Their world was ending, much of Germany (especially Berlin) was in ruins. They were surrounded by death. Under such circumstances people make incomprehensible decisions. Definitely one of the most grim and awful moments of those last few days in the bunker.
Magda Goebbels was truly a monster and a malignant narcissist through and through.
A common grim German joke was enjoy the war because the peace will be worse.
On the other hand, its also heartbreaking that the parents not only killing the children, but thoroughly ruined their present and their future while making childrens while planning a war.
These childrens are doomed from start because of something they couldn't control, while the actual culprit acting childish for their entire parenthood and wartime.
Which is why the writing and plot of Downfall is hard to process but masterfully executed to spare the viewers from the even darker horrors than it shown.
Bruno Ganz the actor of Adolf Hitler, died on 15th February this year, his memory will be remembered through memes and the movie.
He's an acting legend.. he's done a lot more than just Downfall
I agree. His performance and his demeanor transcends any of the follow-on nonsense with those memes and so forth.
tom kat no he died because of cancer, it hit me hard, when I heard about it, because I’m also a swiss filmmaker and I hoped, that I can work with him one day.
"through memes" - what a disgrace to one of the most profiled European actors of the last 50 years.
best part is the movie isn't filled with Hollywood bullshit
Oh yes it is.
@@howlinsg1968 maybe cinematic bullshit but not americanized post-war Hollywood bullshit
Amen
@@josephrichter2104 fucking Nazi
@vladypunkyface fucking Nazi
I saw this movie for the first time at the 2003? 2004? Toronto International Film Festival and saw the director and several actors including Bruno Ganz do a Q+A after the film. Next day I went to the film Wim Wenders had at that years TIFF and because I arrived late I was forced to sit in one of the front rows along with another late comer. We had a delightful chat about great films that we had seen at the festival. There were a steady stream of people coming up and congratulating this gentleman on his film. It slowly dawned on me that I was sitting next to Bruno Ganz ( silly me, I didn’t recognize him without the mustache) At that moment he was just a film lover like myself wanting to see the latest film of his old director in “Wings of Desire” A delightful gentleman and a wonderful memory for me.
RIP Bruno Ganz
A swiss actor, playing the role of an austrian man, who became leader of germany.
Huh.
A dude playing a dude disguised as another dude
@Edward Burgess No, Bruno Ganz was Swiss. We don‘t have a huge movie business in Switzerland, let alone world class actors. But Bruno Ganz was certainly one of them.
@Edward Burgess Ganz was Swiss - born and raised in Zurich.
jonny jonjon As long as this dude still knows what dude he is
Not stranger than an Australian actor in an american made film, playing a fucking ROMAN GLADIATOR!
Absolutely terrifying film yet brilliant and fascinating. The acting was truly believable as you rightly said.
Absolutely terrifying film yet brilliant and fascinating. The acting was truly believable as rightly was said in the review.
Still Propaganda
@@bregjejabra25 what propaganda ? Everything in the movie was real, the final days of hitler as it was, as per traudl. She was there and spoke of what she saw and that is presented in the film. What do you have to top that ??? and why should i believe you instead of her ???
@@shalindelta7 Well, not that I'd wanna be on the side of people who say it's "propaganda"... But to be fair, there have been some misgivings over Junge's testimony.For example, there are some who claim that her interactions with Hitler couldn't have been as frequent and "personal" as she proposes in her books, because according to other sources (like Göring), Hitler never actually dictated letters, or orders, to his secretaries. Instead he always wrote everything by hand, had it typed out in separate pieces (often by 3 different people), and then burned the original. Göring said that Hitler continued this strange practice despite already suffering heavily from Parkinson's, which lead to orders sometimes being loosely "interpreted" by German commanders because they didn't make any damn sense (and no one dared to tell Hitler that this was due to his illegible handwriting). Although, I should add that this came from a man who was known to be a pathological liar, and who was clearly fishing for _any_ excuse to escape the gallows at Nuremberg... But still.
Of course since it's a movie, it also took some artistic liberties with the source-material. But, it made for a magnificent movie, though.
@@runi5413 yep there could have been a few things changed for the movie true. Overall i would say its as close to the real thing as we will ever know.
My grandmother was 9 years old in Berlin when the war ended. Watching this movie knowing that just made it all the more real. She could remember being in one of those bunkers with all the civilians and wounded soldiers. She said there was a U-boat captain in hers and everyone treated him with respect because they were so respectful of the U-boats. It's just unreal to think something like that ever happened.
Yup. And my grand grandmother was digging trenches during the siege of Leningrad. Luckily, my grandmother was safe in Odessa during the time.
The Bunker Movie, In the Final days of World War II, Adolf Hitler's Final days (January -May 1945)
ua-cam.com/video/vm_SgR_ybGY/v-deo.html
Yes Bruno Ganz is a swiss actor, but from the german speaking part of Switzerland and he acted in Germany since the 1960s, so no wonder he has no problem with the language. Plus at the time of this movie he had already won several awards. Sadly ever since that movie it seems that only rarely has anyone tried to portray Nazis outside of stereotypes. Germany did it from time to time but the most recent American film I have seen was Race and that one also had lots of stereotypes and outright lied about history.
Hitler wasn't born a German either but rather Austrian. And after becoming a German citizen he spent several years in Bavaria. So a Swiss actor might actually be closer in dialect than a German actor from Berlin or Northern Germany.
@@thomasroewer5673 Austrians are germans idiot
Austrians will tell you differently. Fitting name btw.
@@thomasroewer5673 congratulations you've been added to the list of idiots who think it's funny when they point out an intentionally ironic name
I’m sorry, but there is nothing intentionally ironic about your screen name. It is rather a perfectly fitting description of you. Not only is your statement that Austrians are Germans incorrect but the way you respond proves that you are precisely what your screen name says.
I appreciate any WW2 movie that isn't bluntly going for a "Germans are bad and stupid, mkay?" theme. Me and many other Germans are so tired by this imagine being transported in movies. Today, many many people just think Germans are bad people in general because of false information being carried on in history. So much went wrong all around the world in the 20th century. It's all so incredibly more complicated than that. There were extremist governments everywhere on the planet... This massive tragedy could happen anytime again to any country. And I'm very certain lots of other people will agree to this.
Cian McCabe I agree with both of you. Give it time and people will eventually forgive and move on. Main reason the horrors of WW2 is still fresh in people's minds is because many people who lived during the war are still alive. The reaction to WWI was very similar too, many people disavowed the Germans after that war (even if they weren't the ones to start it) but 100 years later it's just general history and nothing else.
Agreed. Under the right circumstances what happened in Germany could have happened anywhere.The power and sophistication of Germany was what made it so earthshaking. And if Germany had won the spin on what happened would have been different. Stalin is still grudgingly admired by a lot of people.
I am 68. My Dad went to war in WW2 and come in contact with many German soldiers. As I was growing up, I never heard him speak badly of those men. To him they were simply men like himself who spoke a different language. But that generation has almost all died off, and for the most foolish reasons we all will start over
they are very old and dying off more and more every day
Both sides were wrong. The western allies terrorbombing German cities is also a warcrime. Sadly no one got convicted of that.
I was shaking my head back then, when the media started asking "Can you show Hitler as a human being?" I mean...he was, ugh media is a pain in the ass
Ruhe in Frieden, Bruno Ganz.
rip or rif
@@Mohatheking19
R.I.P/RIP means "Requiescat in Pace" (Latin) = Ruhe in Frieden (German) = Rest in peace
Repose en paix in french
"Vila i frid" in swedish
Равонаш шод
in Tajik.
One scene I love so much is....
When Hitler and Eva are going into room just before suicide. Then, Gobbels wife came and requests and begs security guard for last meeting with Hitler.
She begs Hitler to leave Berlin. But, Hitler denies her request. This is is one of the iconic scenes in history of cinemas.
It was a good scene.
The whole movie is a good scene.
But some say Hitler did escape.
@@MrJoebrooklyn1969 Even IF he did, he is long dead now...or is he?
@@MrJoebrooklyn1969 some say the earth is flat.
@@Msitujani and some say Socialism can still work.
The actor who played Himmler in Downfall looks more like him than the actual, historical person.
So basically Himmler is more Himmler than Himmler
@@m1co294 big brain time
The scene where the Göbbels killed their children is so well done and so terrifying. I get teared up every time I watch it.
@Chicha 17 I am from Iceland. My people wouldn't have done anything.
@Chicha 17 Except maybe help them...
@Chicha 17 Russians held Berlin, not the US; What's your point?
@书中自有黄金屋 shut up chinese nazi lmao
By writing this comment you’ve ruined it for anyone who hasn’t seen this movie. Congratulations.
Downfall truly is a masterpiece. You should also cover the 1993 film, "Stalingrad". Arguably one of the best WW2 films ever made. Extremely authentic, and realistic. It would make an amazing companion piece to Downfall.
Fun fact one of the main characters in Stalingrad also plays the role of the German officer at the end of “the pianist”
@@jasonsullivan7462 and also stars,again, as a German officer in the 2015(?) Stalingrad re-make.
Thomas Kretschmann was in Stalingrad (1993 and 2013), Downfall, The Pianist, Valkyrie, and many more ww2 movies, he is a great actor and I wouldn’t be surprised if he kept one of the uniforms.
LOL I love it when stupid people like a movie, know almost nothing about history and immediately brand it as realistic and historical. Next on too dumb to be unbiased: "I like ice-cream, so it's healthy!"
Al Koholik you seem like an arsehole
I've seen this movie countless times. Hitler is shown to be more complex than the Snidely Whiplash portrayal we usually get. All of the acting is believable.
I've always been interested in this film. And I really don't understand people that have a problem with showing Hitler as a human being. All beings are capable of making morally good or bad decisions. Evil is not some mythological entity that doesn't exist like some horror monster, the potential to commit evil acts is in all people and should not be shied away from. As you said, to make Hitler a monster makes him and Nazism look more storybook and less real that it leaves people open to falling into an ideology just as bad, if not worse than Nazism because of someone that comes off as intelligent and having all those aspects that make them seem like a good leader.
I really should watch this film; not just because it is a good movie but a good historical one at that. Something that I should really look at due to my interest in World War 2 history.
They have a problem with it because they cannot accept the fact that they could be just like him
My father actually is in "Der Untergang/Downfall" (2:45 he's the one on the far left, 6:25 front row in black uniform), so I heared a few stories from set.
What always fascinated me about this film is the incredible attention to detail. You can feel the authensity every scene, every frame and every second. They made sure everything, from the mannerism to the fabric of the clothes is as close to reality as possible. Everybody was working so hard to make this movie, because they understood the importance of it and I think it really shows. It's truly a masterpiece, in my opinion.
Thank you for the video, great work.
They achieved what they were after. Great work.
We also see Hitler's last days. Most footage of Hitler shows him during his rise to power and at the height of his power - ranting and raving in front of mass crowds. This is Hitler when everything he'd believed in and worked for had collapsed. Psychologically it's powerful as he's going through grief stages like denial and anger. Right at the end in this film he talks about Germany needing more oil - he can't quite deal with the fact that everything's collapsed. You see that in his political testament too - he denies any responsibility for the war and blames the Jews for starting it! He still tried to cling on to the Nazi ideology when it was at its end.
The film portrays this expertly, showing his total collapse and his attempts to process it.
I remember when this movie came out some "reviewers" were criticizing a lack of judgmental condemnation. As if that were the movie's job in the first place. Well now we know what came of these moral busybodies...
Actually, the polish-born German literature critic Marcel Reich-Ranicki, himself a survivor of the Warsaw Ghetto, mocked the people who complained that Hitler was portrayed "as a human being", stating "As what should he be portrayed then? An elephant?"
NEIN, ICH NEHME DIESEN PREIS NICHT AN!
In recent times, the Germans have produced at least three extremely accurate war films. In all of them, they have achieved high accuracy. Their goal was to achieve historical accuracy, and they have done it well. The films are, of course, Downfall, Das Boot, and Stalingrad. Well done!
To conclude your list "Die Brücke" the original version from the 50's (NEVER watch the remake!) about teenagers who a recruited for suicide mission to defend a bridge against the allies.
Ever see The Tin Drum from 1979?
@@michaelbruns449 No but I read the book when I was about 14. My mother taught German and she loved Gunter Grass's books. I didn't understand much and was grossed out by a lot, but it was very compelling. I was too intimidated by my reading experience that I didn't dare watch it. 70 years old now. Maybe I should give it a look.
Ganz is perfection in this movie. Nobody will ever play that role even close to his performance.
This one is a rare 10/10.
This one is a simple copy of "der letzte Akt" von 1955 .......
Try "The lives of Others" About a STASI agent.
Agreed
Finally someone who shares the same views on this movie like me. I am not alone in this world anymore.
Me too I agree, one of the best WW2 films ever made.
I agree
Yes, a film I own on DVD and have watched many times.
Definitely one of the best war flims ever,I bought on dvd years ago,a still watch,performances are amazing especiallyBruno ganz as hilter is one of the best ever
@@HappisakVideos Downfall is bloody awesome. I think Das Boot is better though.
This film makes you feel like your are witnessing actual history. It’s filmed as a movie but comes across as a documentary.
Ganz was brilliant!
Many of the actors and actresses looked very similar to their real life counterparts.
The utter destruction of Nazi Germany and how it is portrayed is incredible.
As a German I can only say: Great video!
I think the importance of understanding how Nazism came to be is still of utmost importance. It can happen again (with it i mean a horrible ideology taking over a country).
Liebe Grüße aus Deutschland
@@1982kinger as if there is such a thing.
Youbetternowatchthis Liebe Grüße aus Amerika!
@@1982kinger look at that nazi baby cry XD
You’re right. Nazism is socialism and socialism is clearly on the rise. All that is needed is the next Hitler.
@@powskierthat's dumb, you're dumb! Nazism is socialism XD sure bro.
The great things about making villains human is that it's the way reality is. It's easy to make your enemies cartoonish, in real life and fiction. It's more terrifying exactly because it is more realistic.
I would argue that there are some indeed caricature villains out there (especially in shitholes of Africa). Germany was exception, not the rule - it was civilized country so it annihilated countless people is style.
@MinutemanSam there is, like African pirates with half-rotten AK-47 who are half dead from malnutrition anyway. Life of a human being is no more worthy than life of a fly in Africa and South America. You are too used to your western privileges to know worse. There is no protagonists there except UN troops and celebrities occasionally picking up the best child the shithole can offer.
The most important thing about portraying civilians as they were at a human scale is so we--today--cannot push them away and say, "well we'd never do that!" The point of the film is the people today might dismiss Hitler as an aberrant human, when he was very human, and the result was all the more monstrous because ordinary people--like me?--went along!
Meant "Hitler" not "civilians"
Bruno Ganz as Hitler
Heath Ledger as Joker
Jim Parsons as Sheldon Cooper
These people were absolutely perfect for their roles.
Gary Oldman as Dracula
@@shaungaming7531
His performance as Sid Vicious was very good.
Sean Connery as James Bond.
Kim Shaun Escolta Gary Oldman as Viktor Reznov
Daniel Day Lewis as Abraham Lincoln. One of the best portrayal.
this film has been criticized in Germany for portraying Adolf Hitler as a real human, not as a monster or robot... brilliant movie, way ahead of its time
This is not quite correct. Apart from the BILD-Zeitung, which also only used the "How could they have done this"-angle as a point of raising attention about the movie, there was no major criticism about the portrayal of Hitler as a human being after the movie came out. Criticisms was made about other things, such as making Lara portray Junge wondering through the movie with wide eyed bewilderment all the time, giving Speer the decent role (in his one appearance in the film), that he had given himself in his inaccurate autobiography and the fact that all the major nazis like Hitler and Goebbels get the decency of an off-screen death, as if the camera accepts that these characters would rather be alone in these intensely private moments (although Hirschbiegel mostly did this because in these moments the actual historical events are not quite clear and he wanted to avoid discussions about these specific details).
The criticism about portraying Hitler as a human being mostly came beforehand, while the movie was made and, to be fair, was for a large part, spawned by the production company itself to create publucity. Bernd Eichinger was quite a genius when it came to igniting discussions about potential controversial aspects in his movies, mostly hand in hand with BILD. After the movie came out, Bruno Ganz was almost universally lauded in Germany for his portrayal and the sucject of whether or not Hitler could be portrayed like that quickly died down. If anything, as I witnessed it, the question was more a point of discussion, when the movie came to English-speaking countries, but even there it was mostly just raised as an opener for discussions about the qualities of the movie.
Actually, Marcel Reich-Ranicki, himself a survivor of the Warsaw ghetto, stated "As what should he be portrayed then? An elephant?"
Thats just not true, you arent german speaking right?
But if you follow the movie and Hitler's monologues, dialogues and behavior, you clearly see how a monster he is. He's not portrayed much as a human... or at least doesn't give a human impression...
@@t.g.5258 I am and have been for as long as I have been able to speak. What makes you think that I don't speak German?
Since *History Buff* hasn't done a video on it...this will do..for now
The fear of upsetting snowflake fans is a thing. History is history, it can't be erased by not mentioning it.
@@LMSILVIA yee
I wished more movies were like this. Incredible and deep masterpiece that has stuck with popular culture for so long.
Movie is a solid Nein/10 for me
I am führerious. And honnestly, Anne Frankly offended.
hahahahaha oh jew.... ;)
@@massineben7198 lol I did *nazi* that coming. I *gas* I'll just leave.
NEIN NEIN NEIN NEIN NEIN!!!
Bloody hell 😂😂
Amazing film and can't believe it lost the Oscar for Best Foreign Film. The true mastery were the scenes of Hitler breaking down in sorrow and the cult of personally which surrounded him. Brilliant filmmaking.
Zero chance a film about Hitler that doesn't demonize him will win an award in Jewish run Oscars .. just saying
It didn't fit the propaganda..
It's a great movie. One of the best war movies ever. Together with Das Boot and Stalingrad. Bruno Ganz was amazing. So sad he passed away.. Brilliant actor and the only one that could play this role in a believable fashion.
Lex, which Stalingrad (1993 or 2013 ?). I'm guessing 1993 one cuz that's the German storyline. I haven't watched neither, but would like to, hence asking.
Rip Bruno Ganz
“DAS WAR EIN BEFEHL“
Der Angriff Steiners war ein BEFEHL!
"Wir Sind Sie!"
Dass Sie es wagen, sich meinem Befehl zu widersetzen?
Der krieg ist verloren !
Mein Führer ich kann nicht zulassen, dass sie Soldaten, die für Sie verbluten…
If hitler had seen this film, he would definitely pinned a medal to Bruno Ganz.
Idk the movie doesn't show Hitler in a good light so I guess he would be pissed
an iron cross.
Johns, that's the real tragedy behind this movie - that poor Hitler never got to see it... 🤦♂️
Reminds me of when a double agent working for Britain ended up being so good at giving false information about where the d-day landings would be that he got awarded an iron cross for his service
@@bochica3562 yeah😭
Look who's back is also a movie with an brilliant Hitler actor.
3:54 Well, Hitler wasn't German either, he was Austrian.
That’s still German, he’s ethnically German.
@@polishherowitoldpilecki5521 c'mon
@@polishherowitoldpilecki5521 Always the same thing.
When someone speaks of German unity: "Austrians are a completely different, independent people!"
When someone says that Hitler was Austrian: "NO HE WAS GERMAN"
Herman Urus I really don’t have anything against Austria and Germany uniting. Their both Germanic peoples to me. I’m pretty sure it’s patriotic Austrians that argue that their different.
@@polishherowitoldpilecki5521 (I'm canadian so I can't speak for all Austrians but I have met a large range of them as I'm the first in my dads family side born in canada) all of my Austrian family thinks that Germans and Austrians are separate culturally. most of them and the other family's and communities I've been think of themselves of Austrians. A lot of my family agree they are ethnically german too though.
I saw the movie with my brother in Toronto back in 04, and I was blown away at how good it was. It was haunting, and "too real", when Hitler was screaming in what we now know as the Hitler Meme, I really felt like I was being scolded and yelled at. It is a testament to Ganz's performance.
R.I.P Bruno Ganz (1941-2019)
Still waiting for my movie.
What about the death of Stalin?
Hey Uncle Joe! You won’t get one we still love you here in America!
Josef Stalin- Same
Everyone should get his own movie!!
Not One Step Back
I had never heard of Bruno Ganz, but his performance in Downfall was totally compelling. It it such a shame he has left us now. Rest in peace Bruno.
I'm german and I remember watching this movie in the cinema with my school, truly remarkable work for sure.
I'm not gonna lie to you, one of the things why I watched it was because of the famous meme, but what a good decision I made.
Same
Portray them as monsters and we’ll only be looking for monsters the next time around.
sounds like a quote.
"Portray them as monsters, and we'll only be looking for monsters the next time around.
- John Watson, 2020
The late Marcel Reich-Ranicki, himself a survivor of the Warsaw Ghetto and one of post-war Germany's most prominent literature critics remarked, hearing of the "criticism" that the movie portrayed Hitler as a human being "As what should they have portrayed him instead? An elephant?"
And the next time around has arrived in the U.S., though very few know it yet.
1/10, needs more black cyborg lesbians.
Don't forget moon indians and asteroid Eskimos!
Movie definitely needs more minorities in prominent roles. More diversity and strong independent womyn in business suits.
The fuck? Strawman Central Here.
You are “uneducated”
Der Kernspalter XD
If you look at recordings of Hitler's speeches today, with wild arm gestures, shouting, grand claims, he looks like an obvious madman, people today get the impression we could always spot someone like him, the Germans of the 1920's were fools not to spot it.
However, two important points: one is that Hitler usually got more passionate towards the end, the climax, of his speeches - and these are generally the only bits we see today in most documentaries. Secondly, even politicians from democracies did very similar things - if you look at speeches made by people like Lloyd-George (British PM during and after WWI) and many others, they wave their arms, shake their fists, shout at the microphone - they look crazy as well, from a 21st-Century perspective.
Downfall is a great window into the past, that few films or even documentaries get close to, outstanding.
Marcel Huchwajda Agreed, the content is execrable - not the point I was making.
It’s only really softened slightly. People react to passion, after all. It’s often said that it doesn’t matter what you say, as long as you show passion for it. Annoying, of course, to flog the dead horse, but look at Donald Trump; he may not flail and shake his fists as they did, but he still talks with his hands, he’s an expressive orator. And then consider how he won against a very muted, calm and inexpressive presidential candidate. Passion breeds a sense of trust and honesty, where such unemotional oration is likely to breed distrust and discontent.
Neil Griffiths Many of the things he said appealed to many people, it wasn't just hand gestures and confidence. His words made sense to many and well, as soon as they got the power they crushed their opposition.
Hitler became chancellor of Germany within the 'democatic' process of the ballot box and Hindenberg invited Hitler to form a government. Up to that point the normal checks and balances limited what he could do from the Bunderstag. Hitler then set about circumventing the checks and balances, to have the german people to swear allegiance to Hitler rather than the German state or other state organisation. Hitler gradually bullied, threatened, bashed and even had murdered, any who opposed him or his political philosophy. All of us are always potentially in a similar position unless we all monitor and protect our own institutions. So get involved.
It's a powerful and common oration trick. Start off shouting and waving your arms, and you'll turn people off because you look deranged. Start off rational, mellow, and soft spoken, but slowly amp up the energy as the speech progresses and the audience gets more involved, impassioned, and swept up in the spectacle.
This film received only a single Oscar nomination. It was in the category of Best Foreign Language Film. Which believe it or not, it didn't even win.
But it deserved multiple nominations actually though. It should have received nominations in the categories of Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay & especially for Bruno Ganz either as Best Actor or Best Supporting Actor whichever would be most appropriate.
This film is a masterpiece.
Great movie. It shows how a cultured nation can be brought to destruction. You have sympathy for the German civilians. The scene of all these people and German soldiers underneath the Reichstag is very powerful. You see law and order completely breakdown with as and mps rampaging through the city killing civilians because they could not fight. The military also turned on each other. Most difficult scene for me was the scene of magda gobbles killing her 6 children because she did not want them growing up in world without Nazism. Incrediable fanaticism and narcissistism. Deeply moving and disturbing. Great film.
Narcissistism? What the Heck is that? You mean narcissism? But how do you get along with that?
15th generation holocaust survivor Not necessarily, there actually was a suicide wave because many people could not imagine to live in a Germany without Htiler, not much to do with soviets. And I'm pretty sure Goebbels status in the Nazi Regime would have given him and his family pretty much immunity from everything except the oncoming Nürnberg trial.
Dedicated Nazis did commit suicide on the Western front but the common people just stayed calm and went along with things.
The Eastern Front was like the apocalypse, divisions destroyed themselves to buy time for civilians to flee west, women were drowning themselves in rivers. Entire cities of old men and young boys took up arms to delay the russians by any means necessary.
@@nstice1 They shouldn't have went into USSR like a freaking exterminators then.Red army soldiers then wouldn't carry a wrath and revenge for burned cities,villages and dead compatriots and family.
Bullshit. Magda Goebbels could have surrendered to the Americans and got protection for herself and her children. That was her privilege. The millions of ordinary citizens had no such protection from the Soviet savagery.
Agree absolutely 100%. Bruno Ganz truly deserved an Oscar for his performance. In my top ten movies.
Both him and Ralph Fiennes were robbed.
Understanding my own capability to do evil is the most terrifying thing that ever happened to me.
But argueably the single most important one
There is no such as good and evil. There is only flesh. (paraphrasing Hellraiser)
Of the smaller roles in the film I would like to mention Corinna Harfouch who was excellent as Magda Goebbels. The scene where she leaves the bedroom of her children after having murdered them and walks over to a table and starts to frantically shuffle a deck of cards with a blank face expression is just perfect.
Apparently true that she played cards after.
No actor has ever embodied the character of Hitler as well as Bruno Ganz did. "Downfall" is one hell of a movie.
Easily my favourite movie about WW2. It's sad that Bruno Ganz died 1 year ago, but we will never forgot that legend.
Yes I agree, also worth mentioning, the english subtitles are very easy to read, in-fact, you don't realise that you are actually reading them. Hearing the film in the German language obviously adds to the realism. Certainly would not of worked had it been made in english
The fall of Berlin is easily one of the most dramatic and profound events in world history. And this film perfectly captures the drama and the tension and the anxiety in that bunker.
Surely the fall of Constantinople had a far more profound effect on world history.
200,000 dead so Hitler and Goebbels could have a few extra nights in the bunker. There was no reason for this battle to ever take place.
One of the most dramatic and profound events in recent history.
But as terrible as it was, there are many battles, sieges, falls of great cities, that can compete for the title.
The fall of Assyria.
The destruction of Carthage.
The sacking of Rome.
The sacking of Baghdad.
The fall of Constantinople.
The fall of Tenochtitlán.
The rape of Nanking.
The Siege of Leningrad.
The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki...
To mention a few. And these are just cities...
@@JH-lo9ut no doubt.
As a history undergraduate, I love this movie. It is refreshing to see the leaders of the Reich portrayed as people and not just as cartoonish villains, as even in my subject of choice they often are, not just in film. They are not one dimensional characters for use in a story. They were real people. It is important to see people, even those who have done awful things, as people. This is true in history, as in philosophy, and as in psychology. This film is an excellent example of a perspective which I would love to be replicated in future films. Unfortunately, I do not foresee that happening any time soon.
To portray men with conviction and reason as monsters who do only for evil is to do a grand disservice to our species. How can we prevent needless repetition of disaster if we know only the result and not the stepping stones and reason that came before?
RIP Bruno 😪
Legends never die
Like if you agree
A depressing film. The ending is bittersweet.
Yeah, it really was a metaphor for the future of Germany and the hope that allowed them to survive such a brutal evil.
ravagetime Soviet army came in and rape the women just like today. Yeah, bittersweet indeed.
Well, that's WW2 for ya
Yung Biz sorry I don’t understand what are you saying?
Yung Biz are you saying that Russian people are still invading Germany? What?
I completely agree, though I have to add in. When the boy's father reprimands the children in the HJ and tells them to go home and stop playing war is one of my favorite scenes. It shows the disconnect between the young ideologically driven youth and the older, jaded realistic veterans.
I enjoy your content lad! I’ve very much appreciated this relatively recent change in your tone and performance. You’re telling things straight and how you see them without PC or any other bias. I enjoy that immensely
Very kind of you to say sir - better to speak the truth than wander round apologising for the views you hold.
When you watch the movie you really feel it. When everyone in the bunker killed themselves and the silence came, I've never felt such an emptiness...
I was thinking like "What am I gonna do now?" Nobody's left
How Bruno Ganz didn’t get the Oscar for best actor that year I do not understand.
He's not American or British.
If the movie weren't so riveting, the memes wouldn't be so funny.
R.I.P. Bruno Ganz. One of the best actors I have ever seen.
This movie, IMO, was about the people around Hitler moreso than it was about Hitler himself. The choice to select a Traudl Junge (a mundane employee) as the main character was central to the goal of the movie.
I disagree slightly with this video in that I don’t think the movie was trying to say that Hitler could have made different chocies. Maybe he couldn’t have. But that shouldn’t have mattered. Hitler was a dog chasing cars, and it was the choice of everyone around him to elevate him to Godlike status that was the true instigator of WWII and the Holocaust.
The pivotal point of the movie is the point where Hitler’s closest staff watches him confront the reality of the loss of the war, and the illusion that Hitler was in control of the situation was finally shattered. These people needed to believe that someone was in control, that someone had destiny on their side, because the idea that nobody is in control is terrifying. But in an instant, Hitler’s staff are forced to confront the reality they were trying to avoid from the start.
In a sane society, people like Hitler (dogs chasing cars) are not given total control of society. They may still be irreversibly mad, they may still have an unshakable desire to do horrible things to those they dislike, but in isolation, they’re relatively harmless. But to see in that type of person an interminable certainty about the world and envy it is where the catastrophe begins.
Ganz deserved an Oscar nomination for this film.
Yes he should of but they give Oscars to trailer trash now
RIP Bruno Ganz. You were truly one of the best actors ever.
Every high school student should be required to watch and discuss “Downfall”, “Sophie Scholl”, and the much earlier “Die Brücke” (The Bridge) with the brilliant Fritz Wepper as one of a group of high school kids torn from their mothers and forced into the last gasp defense of their homeland. Tragic. Haunting, all three.
The Goebbles children part of this film haunted me for ages after I first watched it.
R.I.P Bruno Ganz.
I screened this film when I was a projectionist. I hated screening it, not because it was a bad film but because it was so realistic and terrifying. It is an amazing film and needed to be made. Film making at its finest.
As a german movie it's unbelievably good, accurate and courageous.
Still holds up after 14 WHOLE YEARS!!! O my gawd, that's such a long time.
I think at this period of time, the messages ages well about the importance of history so that we can prevent history from repeating itself. We are seeing how worlds have been divided and hatred are visible amongst communities.
Totally agree with your assessment. Next review Das Boot....IMO another timeless war movie.
Downfall is one of my favourite movies of all time! It’s phenomenal. ❤️
I like this movie because it's a very emotionally moving film that shows the audience how the consequences of evil can be extremely costly if good people remain silent at the threat of evil.
I also include “the lives of others” in my top ten with Downfall, (goodbye Lenin and Run Lola Run in top fifty) good work Germany!
I adore Run Lola Run! Goodbye Lenin is great too!
I love Goodbye Lenin!
The lives of others movie at the extra features has an interview with the Stazi agent actor. He says it was a true story and HE was in reality the guy who was saved by a humanistic Stazi agent. He portrayed the person who saved him as a tribute.
The first time I actually saw this film was when I was about 10 or so, and I remember wondering, "How in the world did they videotape Hitler and his entourage with colorization?"
Dude there is nudity in it and suicide why would you watch it when ur ten
Great movie btw
@@everettstrait311 as a 10 yr old they prolly didn't know what the movie was even about
Color film was actually invented by this time. Although it was very expensive and not in widespread use. But color film clips of Hitler actually exists.
@@everettstrait311 They can handle seeing a few nipples. The suicides I can understand.
Downfall is one of the best movies ever. Bruno Ganz deserved an Oscar for his portrayal of Hitler. Heino Ferch also deserved recognition as well.
completely agree, not only one of the best war films ever, but one of the greatest films of all time. I have the dvd. A must have for the collector. Acting is amazing. if you haven't seen it, see it now!
RIP The Great Bruno Ganz
Ron Rosen in his book "Explaining Hitler" said the same thing bout understanding the dynamics at play in German society and in Hitler's family of origin that created Hitler and allowed him and the nazi's to take over. That you can't just pawn it off to evil but to understand it so it to keep it from happening again. That what took place in Germany took place in one of the most advanced civilizations in the world.
As an American I am frightened to see this with Trump supporters who can't see how dangerous he is and how many of them there are. I agree with the psychiatrist I saw in the doc Unfit who does compare Trump to Hitler because Trump is willing to do anything for power and both are narcissist. Trump will not concede that he lost the election and it was "rigged" and all of his minions and flying monkeys are enabling him and undermining democracy. This is truly scary that this is happening in the U.S. at this point in time.
This is why it's important to understand NAZI Germany and Hitler because it can happen anywhere at any time.
Watching Downfall I thought I had a time machine instead of a T.V.