Downfall

[poliphilo]

I watched part of the new German movie about the death of Hitler last night. It taught me that Hitler was a very bad man and more than a little bonkers in the nut. An hour and a half passed and he still hadn't chowed down on the cyanide capsule so I did some research and discovered there was another hour and a half to go. Good grief. I was feeling so tired it hurt (though this wasn't Hitler's fault) so I switched off and went to bed.

It's been said this film shows the Germans finally coming to terms with the Adolf Hitler experience. O, no it doesn't. What it does is load everything onto Hitler. He's this apelike loony, shambling around, twitching uncontrollably, throwing tantrums and tossing his sweaty locks, while all the other nazis- big or little- exchange embarrassed looks behind his back and react to events in ways that are variously courageous, noble, compassionate, sensible, stoical or- at worst- tragically misguided. Himmler is politically savvy, Goebbels is admirably loyal and as for Speer- well, Speer is a hero. So the moral of the story is we Germans are a thoroughly decent lot and the Third Reich was all down to one gibbering troll who somehow, unaccountably became our leader.

Please Miss, it wasn't me; it was him!

Comments

[frankepi.livejournal.com]

i've heard similar things about Downfall and the ways its relationship to history and responsibility are problematic. interestingly, in contrast to your reaction, some people said it humanized Hitler way too much by making him so vulnerable and somehow less responsible for his atrocities.

Bruno Ganz has a great repuation as a theatre actor, though, and i've heard he's remarkable in the film as well.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I think it's time we went the whole hog and humanized Hitler entirely. So long as we go on portraying him as a monster we remain in denial about the fearful things he reveals to us about our shared human nature.

I thought Ganz was extremely theatrical. His performance reminded me of nothing so much as the rock and roll Hitler in the Producers.

[frankepi.livejournal.com]

given my field, i'm not sure i approve of the word "theatrical" used disparagingly....

but i understand what you mean ;-)

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I've always been fascinated by the difference between what works on stage and what works on screen.

Laurence Olivier was probably the greatest stage actor of the last century, but I don't think he ever quite got the hang of acting for the cinema. He swings between theatricality and (having understood that screen acting demands stillness) an underplaying so extreme it becomes mannered and draws attention to itself. Watching him on screen you never forget you're watching a great actor giving a masterclass in technique.

[philtration.livejournal.com]

I saw "Downfall" and thought that it was very good. I feel that Hitler should be shown as a human being because that is what he was. A man and nothing more. One of us who rose to great power and then to even greater madness.
For some reason I have had people ask me if I am embarrassed or ashamed about my German ancestry even though my family came to America over 260 years ago and fought in WWI and WWII. Dumb.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I'd have liked to have seen more of Hitler's famous charm. There was nothing in Ganz's performance to explain why all these people had been held in thrall by this man for so many years.

[philtration.livejournal.com]

You are correct about that but I just took it as the last moments before the end. By that time most of the country was focused on bigger issues than their love for Hitler. Like surviving or the coming revenge that they feared from the Russians. I believe that telling why they were so devoted to Hitler would be another story set in 1939.