Trivia / Downfall (2004)

• Ability over Appearance: Ulrich Matthes doesn't look one bit like Joseph Goebbels, but his strong acting largely compensates.
• Approval of God: The director of the film admits that he finds the Hitler Rants meme amusing since the whole point of the scene was to show Hitler as a truly crappy person in the midst of a Villainous Breakdown.
• Blooper: When Göring's telegram is being printed on the teletype, his signature is on the left-hand margin. But when Misch rips it out, the signature is on the right.
• California Doubling: Most of the street scenes in Berlin were actually filmed in Saint Petersburg.
• Character Outlives Actor: Heinrich Schmieder died on 21 July 2010, over three years before the real Rochus Misch passed away on 5 September 2013, making Misch the only surviving member of the Führerbunker to live up to the 2010s.
• Completely Different Title: Known as "Hitler: The Last 12 Days" in Japan.
• Creator Breakdown: Corinna Harfouch - who played Magda Goebbels - has four children and she broke down in tears while trying to prepare herself for the scene where she poisons Goebbels' children. The thought that she had to act like wanting to kill children was almost too much for her. A few sources even mentioned that she was supposed to be without emotion during the scene, but watch her face closely and you see her internally tearing up whenever she has to pull the cover. When confronted with the girl playing Helga, her expression even visibly slips into pain. The director kept it in because he liked the believable result.
• Dawson Casting:
  • Bruno Ganz was 62 during production, while Hitler was 56 at the time of his death.
  • Bettina Redlich was 40 when the film was made. Constanze Manziarly was actually 25 during the Battle of Berlin.
• Deleted Role: Much of Oliver Stritzel's appearance was cut from the film, while Klaus B. Wolf was cut altogether. Both were restored for the extended version.
• Fan Community Nicknames: Fans of the film and people who make 'Hitler Rants' parodies sometimes refer to themselves as "Untergangers."
• Fake Nationality:
  • Swiss actors Bruno Ganz and Mathias Gnädinger respectively play Austrian-born Adolf Hitler and German Hermann Göring. Romanian-born actress Alexandra Maria Lara plays German-born Traudl Junge (though she has German citizenship).
  • Since the film was shot in Saint Petersburg, several supporting characters are actually played by Russian actors.
• Gag Sub: The Hitler Rants all over YouTube were quite an internet meme, peaking at around 2009 to the early 2010s. They continue to be made, although most of the veteran Untergangers have either retired or slowed down their productions for various reasons.
• Irony as He is Cast:
  • Wilhelm Burgdorf is portrayed by Justus von Dohnányi, the grandson of German Resistance member Hans von Dohnányi.
  • Ulrich Matthes as Goebbels, the Minister of Propaganda of a regime that infamously persecuted gay people. Matthes came out as gay in 2021.
  • Inge Dombrowski, the Hitlerjugend girl with double ponytails, is played by Russian actress Elena Dreyden. Ironic, given both Nazi Germany's view on Slavs and the fact that they are at war with them in the movie.
• Role Reprise: This is his second time Ulrich Noethen portrays Heinrich Himmler.
• Star-Making Role:
  • While Bruno Ganz had been an acclaimed actor in German cinema for years, this film made him known for international audiences.
  • The role of Traudl Junge made Alexandra Maria Lara's name known to the world.
• What Could Have Been: Oliver Hirschbeigel almost didn't direct the film, trying to leave the project to jump to another project that had just lost its original director. However, his contract stated that he couldn't leave the project and had to direct the film. The film that he tried to jump to? Blade: Trinity.

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