DOWNFALL

REVIEWED BY SHANNON H.

Our rating: 2 out of 5

Because of: extreme violence, gore, nudity, thematic elements

Rated:

In the final year of World War II, the allied powers combined their strength and started to attack Berlin from all fronts, especially Russia. The Battle of the Bulge failed, which was Germany's only hope for staying in the war. Nearing closer to the demise of the Third Reich, German generals start brainstorming ways to save the citizens of Berlin and their leader, Adolf Hitler, before Russian troops closed in on their city. This film captures that moment.

In 1942, Adolf Hitler calls in several, young college-age women to interview them for a couple of secretarial openings within the Third Reich. A few make the cut and are immediately given jobs along with the usual benefits packages, medical, dental, etc. Two of them, Trandl Junge and Gerda Christian, are totally committed to National Socialism; in other words, they've been brainwashed and have no idea what National Socialism means. For three years they dedicate their lives to serving their Fuhrer and Germany by committing Hitler's hate speeches to type. They participate in the party scenes, mingle with Hitler's mistress, Eva Braun (who looks incredibly hyper throughout the entire film), and dine with SS Officers and Hitler's generals.

Things are not looking well for the Third Reich. Hitler's "prophecy" of a 1,000 year reign is cut short. Despite the danger of Russians and Americans closing in on Berlin, the Fuhrer refuses to abandon his beloved Berlin. He refuses to listen to his generals and military advisers, preferring to side with the proverbial "yes men" in his circle, including the second-in-command leader, Joseph Goebbels. Some Army officers start to lose hope and morale and turn to drinking, partying, and debauchery to get away from the city's troubles. Trandl and Gerda watch Hitler turn from a "nice guy" into a wretched old man who shakes his fist and explodes into anger when someone disagrees with him. Word gets around that some Nazi officials are considering the option of suicide rather than face Allied troops. The two friends are worried that their Fuhrer might kill himself and opt to die along with him. As Berlin is being reduced to rubble by Allied artillery, the future looks grim for the Third Reich.

German officers are seen participating in debauchery at wild parties and there are a few shots of women's breasts as they strip to their dress slips. An SS officer is awakened while in a drunken stupor and told to report to Hitler, supposedly after making love to a woman in the same room (her breasts are briefly seen; she is wearing some sort of undergarment). An internist working for Hitler goes to a hospital to look for victims and sees a pile of nude corpses (a shot of someone's buttocks is shown). Profanity is limited. The very meat of the R rating comes from the gruesome and disturbing content. Allied artillery is constantly bombarding Berlin as well as the German army.  Nazi officials are seen shooting themselves in acts of suicide, including one bullet to the head. Young kids are shot by Russian gunfire as they prepare to shoot panzerfausts (German bazookas: the word itself is German for "armored fist") at tanks. Men, women, and children are constantly being shot at (a little boy's whole family is shot down by German troops for being "traitors"). Hitler's internist is seen operating on injured soldiers in a makeshift, underground infirmary and blood is everywhere. There are shots of doctors amputating the limbs of German soldiers. Magda Goebbels, Joseph Goebbel's wife, is seen putting her five children to sleep with morphine and then giving them cyanide to kill them. A couple of men "test" the killing power of cyanide on Hitler's dog, Blondi. 

The Christian content is minor, considering that it's a film about the last 10 days of Nazi Germany. Christians are taught to uphold the virtue of compassion. Christ practiced it, God practiced it, and believers of God's Word practice it. At dinner with his associates and his mistress, Adolf Hitler mumbles that compassion is a bunch of tripe regurgitated by priests. He feels compassion is for the weak as opposed to the strong who thrive on being harsh with their enemies (this was also a reference to Hitler's belief in a superior "Aryan" race). Those who practice compassion are not weak, but strong in heart. According to Galatians 6:2, it is a fulfillment of Christ's Law. In the film, Hitler mentioned that his generals attended military colleges and academies but he never went beyond high school and yet had control over most of Europe. His "empire" was lost in six to seven years' time (from the capture of Czechoslovakia and Poland in the late 30s). Mark 8:36 states that "What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, but forfeit his soul?" Hitler may have gained a small part of the world, but in the end, it cost him his life.

Any movie about Nazism wouldn't be complete without the anti-Semitic rhetoric. Hitler very rarely goes off on his anti-Jewish rants. When he does, Trandl Junge starts to get a little nervous about being around him. Nazism is practically a religion: their beliefs are based on Nordic myths, the theory of evolution, and the growing anti-Semitism stemming from the aftermath of the First World War. These elements contradict the Christian faith, especially anti-Semitism since Jesus Himself is a Jew (the Nazis viewed Christ as some Nordic, "Aryan" superhero). The Christian content in the film involves a boy who had joined Nazi Youth and received a medal from Hitler for destroying two Russian tanks. His father found him in the streets preparing panzerfausts for the purpose of destroying enemy tanks and orders him to go home but the young lad refuses. Throughout the movie, his "fellow soldiers" are shot by enemy snipers and when the last of the troop is shot, he finally realizes the error of his ways and comes back to his father. That night, he is lying in bed sick and his mother complains that he has a fever. His father replies that he's thankful his son is alive after what he did in the war-torn streets of Berlin. The scene reminds me of the parable of the Prodigal Son where an unruly kid learns to suck in his pride and seek forgiveness from his dad.  When the boy came home, just barely escaping death, his father did not punish him, whip him, beat him, etc. He said nothing but embraced his child with open arms. Prior to being born again, we were over our heads in transgression but we learned to realize how wrong we are and go to God for forgiveness. God, in return, gives us eternal life and another chance to redeem ourselves.

Downfall was a well-made film and deserving of the Oscar nomination it received for Best Foreign Film of 2004. It is also very historically accurate in portraying Hitler's last days in his underground bunker.  he most annoying character in the film was Eva Braun, Hitler's mistress (she was referred as Hitler's mistress even though they may have never slept with each other prior to their "shotgun" wedding). This woman reminded me of Mia Farrow's character of Daisy Buchanan in the 1973 film adaptation of The Great Gatsby: jittery, naïve, and a fan of fine wine and parties. The film is based on the memoirs of Trandl Junge, a woman who worked as Hitler's secretary (her character in the movie is actually based on a real person). She doesn't deny working for a mass-murderer, but was unaware that he was a brutal dictator at the time. What I disliked about this film was the motivation of the filmmakers to produce it. In the DVD documentary, the filmmaking crew said they made the film to examine the "human" side of Hitler. While the movie did capture Hitler acting as a typical human being, I can't help but believe that there is no real way to turn a dictator from a monster into an everyday person onto film. For those interested, be warned. It's not the kind of movie to entertain audiences.

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