Downfall.
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John Johnson
- Posts: 6090
- Joined: Tue Apr 19, 2005 3:28 pm
Downfall.
I see that this film is officially out tomorrow on DVD. Any word about this film? Is it worth buying?
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AndyDursin
- Posts: 34270
- Joined: Tue Oct 05, 2004 8:45 pm
- Location: RI
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Carlson2005
It's very good, but not quite great. It's easily the best of that subgenre of Bunker movies (see also Messrs Guinness and Hopkins), but it still doesn't quite work as well as it should. There are fine performances all round from the strong cast (I was particularly taken by Juliane Kohler's Eva Braun, part mother hen, part best friend, part party girl, part loyal frau), a good script and strong direction, but something always seemed to be missing.
Maybe it was the way it toned down the material a lot. Of course, this was an extremely risky picture and it's understandable that some characters are whitewashed (such as the 'good' doctor whose real role was much more ambiguous) in an effort to give the audience some human focus to identify with. But the sheer savagery of the fall of Berlin was not really there: the Nazi death squads killing civilians were shown in passing (albeit not nearly as prominently as they were in reality), but the understandable barbarity of the Russian troops was very much glossed over (Anthony Beevor's Berlin - The Downfall 1945 - sadly not one of the sources for the film despite the title - gives an excellent account of this). I can see an artistic case for this - the film does make clear that, mad as Hitler and his cohorts were, the civilian population were indeed equally responsible and by focusing on the German characters this is made implicit - but by downplaying the Russians so much, it reduces the sheer almost Biblical scale of the horror that they finally reaped. Of course, whether such a film would have been as successful is debatable, and it could have been open to cries of foul for blackening the Russians along with the Nazis, but I felt the film veered too much to good taste in a subject matter where good taste and delicate sensibilities had no place. That's why ultimately I felt it was a fine film with a few great moments rather than a truly great one.
Maybe it was the way it toned down the material a lot. Of course, this was an extremely risky picture and it's understandable that some characters are whitewashed (such as the 'good' doctor whose real role was much more ambiguous) in an effort to give the audience some human focus to identify with. But the sheer savagery of the fall of Berlin was not really there: the Nazi death squads killing civilians were shown in passing (albeit not nearly as prominently as they were in reality), but the understandable barbarity of the Russian troops was very much glossed over (Anthony Beevor's Berlin - The Downfall 1945 - sadly not one of the sources for the film despite the title - gives an excellent account of this). I can see an artistic case for this - the film does make clear that, mad as Hitler and his cohorts were, the civilian population were indeed equally responsible and by focusing on the German characters this is made implicit - but by downplaying the Russians so much, it reduces the sheer almost Biblical scale of the horror that they finally reaped. Of course, whether such a film would have been as successful is debatable, and it could have been open to cries of foul for blackening the Russians along with the Nazis, but I felt the film veered too much to good taste in a subject matter where good taste and delicate sensibilities had no place. That's why ultimately I felt it was a fine film with a few great moments rather than a truly great one.
funny, the movie is the most succesful German movie (worldwide so to speak) and received an Academy Nomination, but only one minor nomination at the German Movie Awards (well, that Award show is byond boredom and nobody cares, but still...).
Havent seen it, don't like most of the actors/actresses and couldn't care less about a movie about history, which I have to hear about every day...
I guess here the movie was only sucessfull because all the school classes had to go and see it, because I don't know anybody who's seen it or if so, who liked it.
Well, the extended TV version comes out later this year, making it 4 hours long... yawn...
Havent seen it, don't like most of the actors/actresses and couldn't care less about a movie about history, which I have to hear about every day...
I guess here the movie was only sucessfull because all the school classes had to go and see it, because I don't know anybody who's seen it or if so, who liked it.
Well, the extended TV version comes out later this year, making it 4 hours long... yawn...
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John Johnson
- Posts: 6090
- Joined: Tue Apr 19, 2005 3:28 pm
The latest issue of DVD Review reports that a two disc version is expected for September in the U.K. This release will be coming ou through Momentum Pictures.
'The Making Of Downfall' is a one hour documentary. There is also a 30-minute behind-the-scenes doc with a director's commentary, although no commentaries accompany the main feature.
Disc two includes a virtual tour of Hitler's bunker as well as the historical characters portayed.
There is also two versions available in Germany. A disc disc version and one called 'the Premium Edition', which is two discs. No word on what the extras are on these, although I'm guessing they are pretty much the same.
'The Making Of Downfall' is a one hour documentary. There is also a 30-minute behind-the-scenes doc with a director's commentary, although no commentaries accompany the main feature.
Disc two includes a virtual tour of Hitler's bunker as well as the historical characters portayed.
There is also two versions available in Germany. A disc disc version and one called 'the Premium Edition', which is two discs. No word on what the extras are on these, although I'm guessing they are pretty much the same.