If you don't like WW2 history or history in general, you won't enjoy this piece. But if you are a history enthusiast, this movie is a must-watch. It is purely amazing how acting is so realistic and you feel the tension in the bunker. The portrayal of Hitler is truly amazing, how people around him follow his orders, and how much of a madman he is, this movie shows it all.

I never even heard of "Downfall" before, guess it played in very few American theaters. It was on Netflix a few months ago, I was wondering if I should even bother with it, looked up the trailer on YouTube, thought it was worth my while & sat down with a bowl of popcorn. I was blown away by this movie, everything about it was great, even though the people around Hitler weren't readily identified (such as in "The Longest Day," another great film), you could pick out Josef & Magda Goebbels, Henrich Himmler, Eva Braun. It's like you, the audience, is there in the bunker with Hitler, watching/listening to him rant & rave to his generals. I would have loved to have seen what life was really like during the last few weeks in Hitler's bunker, but "Downfall" probably comes closer than any other movie. Bruno Ganz should have at least been nominated for an Oscar. The Academy blew it, though (not unusual).This amazing movie didn't get the publicity it deserved when it released. I have never cared for western or war movie genres but there are some exceptions and "Downfall" is one of them. Other war movies I've enjoyed--just for the record--are "Das Boot" (another great German film), "Hacksaw Ridge," "Schlinder's List," "The Pianist," "Saving Private Ryan," "The Longest Day," "The Great Escape," "Valkyrie," "Conspiracy," and "Tora! Tora! Tora!" Haven't seen much beyond that (wait, does "The Final Countdown" count?)Anyway, check out Downfall!

Overall, the movie has good storytelling. The acting is solid and the whole war sequence is well- filmed. The only downside perhaps is that Hitler is represented in a more humane light than he likely deserves. It appears that the idea was to show him from the eyes of his followers, which the movie achieves but there is little coverage of his hateful ideology and quite a bit of romanticizing. As a viewer, I continued to be puzzled by his halo effect on those around him. Obviously his character continues to be a bit of a mystery in the sense that so many romanticized him and did not truly acknowledge the extent of terror that his regime inflicted- some even to this day. It does appear that people will continue to look for false messiahs- and he must have been the proverbial "wolf in sheep's clothing" to his followers and much worse to everyone else.

Downfall is a word somebody found appropriate to translate into English the German film Der Undertag. And my deep ignorance of Goethe's mother tongue makes it very difficult to judge whether or not the word suits an historical and world-changing event like the Holocaust. In any case, I hold the belief that no rational explanation, regardless of its accuracy, can even come close to offer a proper and convincing explanation of what happened in Germany under the Nazi Regime. Yet Downfall isn't science but art, it's precisely because of this that may have a fair go at explaining what has no explanation.However, Downfall isn't at all about a comprehensive portrait of Hitler (brilliantly played by Bruno Ganz) and Nazis in Germany. It's rather an accurate depiction of the last days of that political system and its leader Adolf Hitler. We get to see him living his final days in his bunker in Berling. Surrounded by German troops and high-ranked officials in a city swept by war, the madness of Hitler is almost touchable. He's a man who gives away his intention of committing suicide in such an open manner that makes you wonder if he is pulling somebody's leg; he's a man who drags invisible armies across a map and into the heart of Berlin while pulls away the ally's armies as though his hand was the same hand of God, filled with mighty power to wipe them out. And he is a man around who everything and everybody orbits.The degree to which characters ranging from officials directly responsible of keeping the III Reich running, to just a simple secretary recently hire by the Führer, they all seem to be reduced to mere children in the presence of such a man. It looks like hes a man-turned God who draws on other people's emotions and weaknesses and turn them into obedience and power. When this process is over, he sends the final product back to their former owners. Yet now, the content is changed ans so is the owner. One could say he's a parasite that feeds off people's mistakes, changing them in the process.Can only a man shape so much a country that irrationality becomes normal? It turns out it can. Of course, as one would expect, not everybody complies with the law or play bay the rules. There's one particular character who amid the madness and violence seems to represent reason. He's a doctor and although the does what he's told to, the often confronts the orders he's given and the nature of absolute power. Through his eyes we see how this absolute power was projected onto the German society and its devastating effects and consequences.