History Film / Downfall2004

''Downfall'' (German: ''Der Untergang'') is a dramatic film from 2004 recounting the last days of UsefulNotes/NaziGermany as [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII the Red Army closes in]] on UsefulNotes/{{Berlin}}, when UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler (Creator/BrunoGanz) and the senior Nazi leadership that remained at his side waited around to die.

* ScrewTheWarWerePartying: Eva Braun engineers vast parties to distract Hitler and their friends from the reality of Germany's impending defeat.

** Additionally, if it weren't a historical memoir, half the stuff that happens wouldn't be believable. Hitler gets married to Eva Braun in his bunker, while Berlin is being shelled, civilians are starving and dying, he's swinging between losing his mind and fanatical delusion that he'll be saved, and everything is falling apart. The priest then asks ''Hitler'' one of the questions that led to this total madness: "Are you of pure Aryan descent?"

** Fegelein, dragged out of a woman's bed to be summarily executed by the SS, takes a moment to button up his tunic and give the Nazi salute before being shot. This is the opposite of what the RealLife Fegelein, a bastard who betrayed his brother in law (the Führer) and tried to escape with a suitcase of stolen money and jewellery, did when caught. He was shot on the spot because he was too drunk to be court-martialed.

* GeneralFailure: Hitler attempts to micro-manage his troops to increasingly greater degrees, revoking control from his far more capable (and sane) commanders for perceived failures. In the war room scene prior to his infamous breakdown, he shows a very weak grasp of tactics by declaring that battalions and divisions on the verge of being overrun [[HonorBeforeReason will hold their ground no matter what]] and grossly overestimating the fighting capacity of groups that exist only on his map. Even the other members of his inner circle give each other nervous looks as he makes these costly decisions. After the last offensive ordered by his generals, ''Unternehmen Zitadelle''/The Battle of Kursk of July 1943, failed and led to a spectacular reversal which cost them the Ukraine and all the (experienced) panzer forces, this became TruthInTelevision for the remainder of the war.

->''"Of course the horrors, of which I heard in connection of the Nuremberg trials, the fate of the six million Jews, their killing and those of many others who represented different races and creeds, shocked me greatly, but at that time I could not see any connection between these things and my own past. I was only happy that I had not personally been guilty of these things and that I had not been aware of the scale of these things. However, one day I walked past a plaque that on the Franz-Joseph Straße (in Munich), on the wall in memory of Sophie Scholl. I could see that she had been born the same year as I, and that she had been executed the same year when I entered into Hitler's service. And at that moment I really realized that it was no excuse that I had been so young. I could perhaps have tried to find out about things."''

* BothSidesHaveAPoint: Fegelein denounces Hitler's high ranking general's cowardice for not telling the Führer the truth about the situation in Berlin, but while Hitler's generals know they are fighting a hopeless battle, they also know that telling him what's really going on will only get them dismissed at best and make the situation worse at worst.

** As the Nazi regime collapses, and Hitler's power wanes, the Nazis begin to express their true inner thoughts regarding the situation. Some, like Traudl and Weidling, are shown to be decent people who care about the plight of their people. Others, like Monhke and Günsche, want to live to see another day in spite of their promise to kill themselves for Hitler. Still others, like Himmler and Göring, are selfish bastards who eagerly take advantage of the situation. And the rest, like Goebbels and Hewel, are fanatically loyal to Hitler to the bitter end, committing suicide rather than face the humiliation of defeat.

** German field commanders and generals in the Battle of Berlin are willing to bitter fight to the end for Hitler's fanatical vision. But most, if not all, are not willing to send civilians to their deaths in a futile hope for victory. Weidling in particular calls for a ceasefire surrender shortly after Hitler dies, and doesn't hesitate to portray Hitler as a cowardly backstabber to his own people.

** Goebbels tries to use the Volkssturm this way, but the "national militia" is actually just a pathetic, last-ditch attempt to put outdated weapons in the hands of untrained civilians, a lot of them old men and children barely in their teens, and herd them into the meatgrinder of the Soviet army on threat of execution by the SS. Their commander, General Wilhelm Mohnke, pleads with Goebbels to realize that the Volkssturm have no effect on the Soviets and simply waste German lives. Goebbels finally admits that he really doesn't care. It's ''their'' fault for following him.

** As the Nazi regime collapses, and Hitler's power wanes, the Nazis begin to express their true inner thoughts regarding the situation. Some, like Traudl and Weidling, are shown to be decent people who cares about the plight of their people. Others, like Monhke and Günsche, want to live to see another day in spite of their promise to kill themselves for Hitler. Still others, like Himmler and Göring, are selfish bastards who eagerly take advantage of the situation. And the rest, like Goebbels and Hewel, are fanatically loyal to Hitler to the bitter end, committing suicide rather than face the humiliation of defeat.

** As for Hitler himself, Traudl gets brief glimpse of him sitting alone in his room looking at the painting of Frederick the Great. Frederick the Great was known to be on the verge of defeat until the empress of Russia died, causing the enemy coalition to fall into disarray and giving Prussian king the edge for victory. [[BelievingTheirOwnLies It shows that Hitler really is delusional of his chances of winning the war]].

* AGlassInTheHand: When Speer confesses to Hitler that he has on numerous occasions ignored or even acted contrary to his orders, Hitler snaps a pencil in half in his hand [[SuppressedRage to avoid yet another outburst of rage]]. It's one of the few instances in the film where a reveal of disloyalty does ''not'' result in Hitler [[RantInducingSlight bursting into a near-incoherent rage filled rant]], instead producing a SingleTear.

* HistoricalBeautyUpdate: Compare the real [[http://www.history.ucsb.edu/faculty/marcuse/classes/133d/essays/images/JungePortrait.jpg Traudl Junge]] with this [[http://images.wikia.com/hitlerparody/images/e/e2/Traudl.jpg one]].

** Subverted by Hitler, who keeps pretending that they do. It's the subject of the infamous rant.

* GlassesPull: When Hitler learns that Steiner's attack isn't happening, Hitler puts a shaky hand to his face to remove his specs before asking all but a select few to leave before [[VillainousBreakdown tearing said select few a collective new one]] for [[YouHaveFailedMe failing him]].

* GlassesPull: A very slow and very shaky one precedes Hitler's infamous rant. The actor behind Hitler was aware of rumors that Hitler developed Parkinson's and integrated that into his performance.

** Junge continues to work as a secretary, lives a long and full life, and dies in 2003, shortly before the film is released.

** Junge continues to work as a secretary, but dies in 2003, shortly before the film is released.

* HistoricaUglinessUpdate: While the film portrays the Nazis as human beings (albeit terrible human beings), some of the Nazi officials' looks are less glamorous than their real life counterparts:

* ThatRussianSquatDance: At the end of the film, Traudl and Peter walk through a group of Russians celebrating their victory, which includes a few soldiers doing this while singing the song "Jablotschko."

* WhileRomeBurns: There are a few desperate attempts to have fun, at Eva's insistence - for example, when everyone is forcing themselves to act happy and dance with the shelling in the background. Finally it gets so loud and so close, that they can't even fake it anymore and are clearly terrified. At this point, Eva jumps up on a table and starts dancing going "C’mon, play the music, I want to dance!" And then a shell hits directly outside the ballroom, filling the room with cloud of dust and sending everyone scurrying back into the bunker in a panic as the lights flicker.

* WeaponsUnderstudies: Peter's Hitler Youth group man a Soviet-made 85mm M1939 (52-K) anti-air cannon. It is likely meant to represent the German 88mm Flak, but can be justified as them using captured equipment.

** Several Nazi officials are shown to be polite and respectful, especially in the presence of their Führer. Some of them would even bring up their families. But as the film goes on, these affably Nazis show themselves to be selfish, opprotunists, fanatical, or just plain sadistic. A common theme among these Nazis is the disregard for their people's suffering.

* FauxAffablyEvil: In the film, Hitler is polite and affectionate to those who remain with him in the Führerbunker as well as those who continue to fight for his doomed ambitions. However, as the film progresses, it increasingly becomes apparent that [[BitchInSheepsClothing his demeanor is a carefully calculated ruse]] designed [[TakingYouWithMe to seduce his subordinates into joining him in death]] out of guilt and/or a tragically misplaced sense of loyalty. It did backfire somewhat as some MoralGuardians did criticise the film for depicting Hitler as "too sympathetic".

** Hitler brushes off Himmler's plead to engage negotiations with the Western Allies, saying that Himmler will "have plenty of politics to do" when he's dead. Later, Himmler is negotiating a peace treaty with the Allies and claims that Hitler is now dead.

** After Hitler's VillainousBreakdown, he gives his generals permission to do whatever they want as he sulks over his impeding defeat. Although they criticize Hitler's plans behind his back, the generals do nothing with this rare opportunity. Instead, they just wait until their dear leader recovers from his breakdown and starts giving them impossible orders again, not willing to take responsibility for the fate of the Germans. It's such a cowardice moment that Fegelein calls them out for being stupid and spineless.