nan | 楠木

Without a shadow of a doubt, this is personally the best film on WWII from the Nazi German perspective.
The film portrays the last days of Hitler and his fellow Nazis in a Berlin under siege. We see how the once powerful and feared totalitarian Hitler is now only a weak and pathetic man, who is near the end of his downfall (which is the meaning of the title by the way) can only have fantasies of a valiant counterattack. He rages at the apparent betrayal of his once most trusted followers, namely Goring and Himmler; he declares he will never surrender and will never leave Berlin– this is the last stand for him, but somehow in the recluse of his fanatical mind he still believes that the Third Reich will rise from the ruins.
The strength of the film is not in the few battle scenes or the accurate portrait of Berlin shattered and in ruins– the strength lies in the characters. Bruno Ganz nails the controversial role of Adolf Hitler– his performance is truly frightening. The rest of the big ensemble cast also deliver many memorable roles, so realistic that sometimes the film feels more like a docudrama.
I hear there have been criticism on the film being sympathetic to the Third Reich and that perhaps it is misleading in that audiences may have a tendency to like its main characters such as Hitler. Indeed, when Hitler is not in a burst of his famous rages he is only a sick and miserable man, at the end of days and with all hope gone. In some scenes he does seem gentle and polite and is certainly likable, especially in his first apperance where he hires a new secretary. And the secretary is also a controversy herself– she is portrayed as an innocent young girl and only on her can we see a glimpse of hope, as she carries all the hope for a future with her at the end of the film. She is the sole light in a film all about darkness. Yet in reality, this character is by far not as innocent as she appears, and this is why there’s been such criticism. Eva Braun is pitiful as the woman who would stand by Hitler to the very end, and it is hard not to feel a little compassion for the Goebbels family’s bitter end– Mrs. Goebbels personally poisoned their own children before taking her own life.
But I am sure the filmmakers’ intentions are not to show sympathy for the Third Reich. This is perhaps indeed only a attempt at being truthful to history, and perhaps with some added consideration of storytelling needs. We do not see demons; instead we see men and women, with all the desires, emotions and fears of human beings, and true, what they did were terrible things, but in the end they are just human beings, just like us. What we should do, instead of simply condemning them and see them as demons and monsters, is try to understand why they did these horrible things, and make sure we learn the lessons and do not make the same grave mistakes. In this aspect, this film should be praised for its brave attempt.

9 out of 10.