It is difficult to highlight one actor or actress in this constellation of stars, but I was impressed with the performance of Bruno Ganz and his "human" Hitler, totally different from the stereotypes usual in other movies. With "Der Untergang", this director is certainly included in my list of favorite directors.
Two years ago, I saw the powerful "Das Experiment" and I was impressed with the work of Oliver Hirschbiegel. But "Der Untergang" is awesome and comparable to "Apocalypse Now!", my favorite movie of war. Last year, I saw the deceptive, boring, pretentious and overrated "Molokh", showing a caricature of Hitler and Eva Braun in Bavaria. I have never seen a film picturing the insanity of Hitler in his very last days in a bunker in Berlin with his high command, and how the German people were hypnotized by him like in this film. "Der Untergang" is certainly the most impressive, depressive and realistic dramatic movie about the World War II ever made. Reviewed by claudio_carvalho 10 /10 The Most Impressive, Depressive and Realistic Dramatic Movie about the World War II It is very brave to create such a realistic film about one's own past. It is probably impossible to provide a more realistic account, without *any* form of judgment.Ī major achievement, even for Germany as a whole. In my opinion, this is a film that should be shown in schools to illustrate the Second World War with. The image of Hitler crying of sorrow because all is lost, is still burned on my retina. The film is criticized because it gives the Nazi's a human face, but this is exactly it's strongest point: the Nazi's were not extraterrestrial monsters, they were as human as you and I. The film does not provide any commentary or judgment, it just shows facts. Direction, camera and acting are of an unparalleled level and make you, as the viewer, feel as if you are actually in Berlin, 1945, and in the Führer's bunker. This film definitely is a must-see because of the incomparable degree of realism displayed in it. Reviewed by nosiesnetnieuws 10 /10 Impressive achievement, realistic and shocking My German friend's comment at the end of the movie."I still can not believe we fought for that monster for six years." The true form of evil rarely looks evil on the surface, it seduces us with a fair face as it leads, sometimes an entire nation, into damnation. The terror is, that even as the actor shows us that "human" side, in his soft voice he is dictating orders, observations, and comments of absolute evil. I've talked with many who knew Hitler, including a childhood playmate of Helga, Goebbel's oldest child, and all will tell you that Hitler could be absolutely charming, focused on you, even courtly when with women. I think the most important point of the film was the portrayal of Hitler.not as the stereotyped raving madman, usually overplayed like a bad performance of King Richard, but far more subtle. If you are a parent of small children, the terrifying ending for the Goebbel's children is an absolutely searing nightmare. It truly was "Gotterdammerung" for an entire nation and this film brings it frightfully close to you. And an interesting observation by him.he had no idea Berlin, at the end, had been as bad as what he witnessed along the Baltic coast and is still haunted by. My German friend, who at the end of the war was in East Prussia, in the debacle of attempting to evacuate over a million civilians ahead of the Russians, was profoundly shaken by the film.saying the horror, the hospital scenes, the utter chaos, the lynchings, the sight of 12 year old children fighting.all of it was real. The German, who met Hitler several times, within minutes was exclaiming over the historical accuracy, right down to "Hitler's" lower class Munich accent.something an American audience would never pick up on. I had the remarkable experience of watching this film last night with two veterans, one a GI who fought from Omaha to Czechoslovakia.and a German infantry officer, a veteran of four years on the Eastern Front. This film comes out on top, perhaps the finest ever made on the subject of the war (though the Belorussian "Come and See" & "Schindler's List" are darn close as well). I teach a college course on WWII, in graduate school studied under several experts on the subject and have interviewed numerous survivors on both sides. Reviewed by wforstchen 10 /10 This Historian is awed by the effort for accuracy