I really found myself engrosed in this film. I thought to scene where those child soldiers were decorated with only hours before total capitulation was extremely poinient. I wasn't aware there was an extend version. I certainly look out for it.
I remember watching it when it was originally shown and I do remember that Sir Alec Guinness did a pretty good job of portraying Hitler. Also, if you want to see another and great protrayal of Hitler, watch the movie: "Hitler" which stars Richard Basehart-as Der Fuhrer.
I saw it opening night, one of the best movies I have ever seen. Watch it once every month or so, I really want to see the extended version but my player is NTSC only. YouTube - THE DOWNFALL - Hitler's Informed of Germany's Defeat
I watched it in London before it made it into normal cinemas and then made sure I saw it again with my father, great film, should really get the DVD. It always strikes me that it must have been odd, to go from standing around a table with a map of the Soviet Union on it, distances of thousands of kilometers, huge armies and so on, to winding up with (effectively) an A-Z of Berlin and manoeuvering 'army groups' in hundreds of meters. Such folly.
I agree Stefan. I just watched it last night and that exact thought struck me. Like Burghdorf said, Hitler was talking about Divisions that existed only in paper. At the end of the war, my grandfather was assigned to the 38th SS Pzgdr division, it was only a regiment in size and had no commander and yet it received orders to go into battle against an approaching army. Total folly.
I watched the movie for the first time tonight and as everyone said it was excellent. It made me almost feel sorry for the Germans having to be trapped in Berlin serving a madman. The arms and legs getting sawed off were tough to watch. The person who played Dr Goebbels was chilling. Can you think what it would be like to work for him ? I was dissappointed at the end when they told what happened to all the bunker staff after the war but they did not say what happened to the little boy who left with Hitler's secretary. Anouther thought I had was I wonder if Bush being in the Whitehouse seven years has cut him off from how the "real" world thinks. I had the same thought when I watched the movie, "The Queen". A person surrounds theirselves with "yes" men and does not get to talk with real people has to have that same bunker mentality over time when things do not go well for them. Not as extreme as Hitler but still not very much in touch with reality. Do any of you know for how long Hitler lived in the Bunker before his death ?
The main focus is the Goetterdaemmerung in the Bunker - the battle scenes are there to show up the detachment of the inner circle from the reality faced by ordinary soldiers and civilians. There are only minor deviations in the film from what actually happened. Peter Kanz, the boy soldier, however, is fictional. I've read a book by a Hitler Youth member, IIRC called "In the Bunker with Hitler", who was decorated in the last days. Again IIRC, he later destroyed a tank with a Panzerfaust, as did a teenage nurse with whom he was running across a roadway. He was later wounded by shell blast as he accompanied Artur Axmann, the HJ leader, on the latter's escape route. Joachim Fest's book on the subject is excellent, as is Bernd Freytag von Loringhoven's. Traudl Junge's book seems to be the main source for the script, but some material has also been taken from Speer, and from Ernst-Guenther Schenk, not without controversy.
The insanity, insanity.... On 22 April, German dictator Adolf Hitler ordered that Weidling be executed by firing squad. On 23 April, Hitler appointed Weidling as the commander of the Berlin Defense Area.... Helmuth Weidling - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I'm showing this to my 10th grade sophomore history students. Surprisingly, they're loving it...I think they're simply thrilled to see the person we've been talking about for the past two weeks come to life. As for me, I'm loving it since I get to sit back and watch a fantastic film over and over.
Outstanding film... The real Fuherbunker in Berlin is buried today; nobody knows for sure where it is today.
No, it is well documented where it is and there are many books and websites showing where it is. Google it.
