‘Downfall’ depicts Hitler in ‘human’ light

A group of young women walk nervously into a bunker, and as they are waiting to be interviewed for a job as Adolf Hitler’s secretary, they ask the gentleman who escorted them in how they should greet the leader of the Nazi regime. “Heil my Furher” is his reply.

But as the man, whom history has made a demonic deity rather than a mere mortal, enters the room, the audience is almost disappointed as Hitler (played by Bruno Ganz) inspects the row of candidates without even a breath of fire from his mouth.

“Downfall,” the 2004 release based on books by German historian Joachim Fest and Hitler’s secretary Traudl Junge, has been criticized by Germans and the Jewish community for bestowing far too much humanity on Hitler’s character.

But it seems that the film’s supporting characters become the film’s focus, soliciting sympathy from the audience, who realizes many associated with the cause may have actually been naïve as to the extent of what was happening outside the walls of the bunker.

The film follows the final days leading up to the Soviet victory in Berlin, and director Oliver Hirschbiegel offers a look into Hitler’s mind as the Third Reich is falling. The Furher never concedes that the end is near and Ganz masterfully portrays Hitler’s outrage and disbelief that his once powerful army has been immobilized and defeated.

While Hitler broods over Germany’s destruction, the secretary he selected three long years ago, Junge (Alexandra Maria Lara), and his lover Eva Braun (Juliane Kohler), attempt to keep spirits high and other loyalists of German National Socialism refuse to believe, as many of the generals realize, that their quest for a pure Aryan race is finished.

It’s fascinating to see the reverence shown toward Hitler, especially that of Joseph and Magda Goebbels (Ulrich Matthes and Corinna Harfouch), who kill their six children and themselves in order to escape a world void of National Socialism.

But after the suicide of Hitler, which is nothing more than a formality, the film begins to give a redeeming look at Junge, who didn’t seem to have a political stake in the war, and Professor Schneck, who begins to see the veil that has been cast over so many eyes by Hitler.

And perhaps the loyalty towards Hitler is the fascination with this film, which remains objective and shies away from philosophical ramblings to give a raw look at World War II’s most intriguing character.

Ganz gives a strong performance in a very difficult role. To play one of the most feared men in history without displaying some amount of subjectivity is a daunting task, but it’s easy to forget that an actor is on the screen as Ganz captures the essence of Hitler, while still being eight years his senior.

The film ends with a look at the lives of several leaders and bureaucrats who were captured by the Red Army. And the final look is at Junge, who died in 2002. She shows remorse for being involved with the Nazi cause and says that being young was no excuse for her naivety.

Grade: A