Downfall - An Analysis of Hitler

Downfall is not like any other war movie I have ever seen. It brings us closer to Hitler, the man responsible for deaths of millions and an uncle, employer and a beloved leader at the same time.
Since the end of World War II there have been made many movies, which attempted to portray the horrors, injustice and cruelty inflicted by a single man who sought ultimate power at the cost of millions of people. Very often the plot follows the process of destruction of the lives of civilians or soldiers. Die Brücke by Bernhard Wicki, La Rafle by Roselyne Bosch or Spielberg’s Schindler’s List are only a few examples of such a depiction of war. Such films usually abide by the German taboo of displaying Adolf Hitler on screen, showing him only either for a very short time or through snippets of archival material. This taboo is broken completely by Oliver Hirschbiegel’s Der Untergang (Downfall). The movie is telling the story from the inside of the bunker which Hitler and his supporters were occupying during the final days of the war, through the eyes of his secretary, Trudl Junger. It is a thorough analysis of the Füher’s controversial character and behavior, depicting how he managed to convince his supporters to follow him blindly and how they truly believed in his goodness and justice. Through the deconstruction of the Nazi system’s foundations the movie seeks an explanation of why so many people followed Hitler and how a single man could have been so manipulative and persuasive that he was able to mobilize so many to follow him, as well as to demystify him by depicting him as a simple man with fears, dreams and no ‘special’ powers and to outline the fact that every human being has the potential to be just as evil.


Downfall is a great movie which creates an insight into the main machinery of World War II, an aspect rather omitted by the previous cinematic productions. Hirschbiegel successfully portrays the person behind the name that has been until now associated only with a ruthless tyrant, and also the people around him who trusted him, admired him and without whom Hitler would never have achieved even a fraction of his goals. The film’s message is very powerful not only through the scenes that we see on the screen, but also through the reliance on the audience’s awareness of the terrors of war omitted in the plot, but which create a background for the reasoning and behaviors of the characters in the movie.