Monday, July 13, 2009

Downfall


Right before I went to Providence, I saw "Downfall," a German/Austrian production about Hitler's last days in the bunker in Berlin. Directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel and written by Bernd Eichinger, it is partially based on the book by his secretary, Gertrud (Traudl) Junge. They appear to be very careful about historical detail. Bruno Ganz looks nothing like Hitler, but five minutes into it you are convinced that he does. Corinna Harfouch plays Magda Goebbels (I don't think I'd ever seen her before), and she's really arresting. You can't take your eyes off of her. And as heinous as the murdering of the children is, you don't doubt that this woman is capable of it.

1 comment:

Jo said...

I saw this a couple of years ago and had no idea what I was walking into. Chilling. That scene with the children... wow.