"Downfall" tells a story that's been told on film before: the final days of the Third Reich.
Here it unfolds through the eyes of Traudl Junge, a stenographer who served as Adolf Hitler's personal secretary.
As the movie begins, Hitler (Bruno Ganz) selects Junge (Alexandra Maria Lara) to be his secretary from the available steno pool. So she's on hand to witness the fateful 1945 period when Berlin comes under siege from the forces of the Russian army.
She's also one of the few who remain loyal to her Fuhrer, who's already been betrayed by his generals and some of his most trusted advisers, all trying
to seize power for themselves as the Third Reich begins to fall.
After awhile, "Downfall" begins to get a little long-winded; it's so crammed full of characters that the filmmakers start to lose track of them. The exceptions are Magda and Joseph Goebbels (Corinna Harfouch and Ulrich Matthes), whose fanaticism in the face of defeat leads to one of the movie's more dramatic and horrifying scenes.
Up-and-coming German actress Lara plays Junge as being a bit naive and blindly obedient to her country's leader, even when his actions make that difficult. (This material is based on Junge's memoirs, so that's not surprising.)
As for Ganz, his Hitler is equal parts madman and brilliant tactician. And the haunted expression he wears on his face through the final third will stay with you.
Some may question the sensitivity of portraying such inhumane monsters as flesh and blood, humanizing them, but that only makes their actions depicted here more chilling.
Another recent film on this subject was "Blind Spot: Hitler's Secretary," a documentary featuring interviews done prior to Junge's death in 2002. Some of that interview footage shows up at the end of "Downfall," during the closing-credits sequence.
In some ways, this version of Junge's story, broadened by the addition of several other real-life figures, is more effective. It certainly benefits from the presence of Ganz, the veteran German character actor who portrays Hitler.
"Downfall" is rated R for strong scenes of wartime violence (including shootings and explosive mayhem), some graphic gore, some drug content (use of poisons), scattered use of ethnic slurs, racial epithets and profanity, and some brief female nudity. Running time: 149 minutes.
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