Hasitha Fernando on the story behind Downfall as the film celebrates its 20th anniversary…
Over the course of many years there have been numerous stories of World War II that centered around Adolf Hitler brought to life through feature films and the small screen. These portrayals have ranged mostly from moustache twirling villainy to two-dimensional characterizations. But 2004’s Downfall sought to take a different route by offering a different look at what went on during the last stages of the Nazi regime and its enigmatic leader. This is that story…
The story of the film was inspired by a book
Bernd Eichinger was one of the most intrepid movie producers Germany had ever produced. The tenacious creative played an instrumental role in transforming Constantin Film into a production company which bankrolled both local and international film projects like the Resident Evil franchise. Even before the dawn of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Constantin Film saw the potential of the Fantastic Four IP, buying the rights to the characters and even having a hand in producing the Tim Story helmed Fantastic Four movies in the early 2000s.
For the longest time Eichinger have always wanted to make a film about Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party but the enormous scale of the potential project dissuaded the producer from pursuing his idea time and again. However, this all changed after he read Joachin C. Fest’s 2002 book Inside Hitler’s Bunker: The Last Days of the Third Reich which detailed the final weeks of Hitler’s regime before the fall of Nazi Germany. In addition, Eichinger also based the film on the memoirs of Traudl Junge titled Until the Final Hour: Hitler’s Last Secretary. When writing the screenplay for the film, some of the other literary works Eichinger referred were Albert Speer’s Inside the Third Reich, Gerhard Boldt’s Hitler’s Last Days: An Eye-Witness Account and Siegfried Knappe’s Soldat: Reflections of a German Soldier.
Oliver Hirschbiegel initially turned down the project
Oliver Hirschbiegel’s first theatrical release was the thought provoking thriller Das Experiment which was based on Mario Giordano’s novel Black Box dealing with a social experiment similar to that of Philip Zimbardo’s Stanford prison experiment in 1971. Hirschbiegel became an international sensation, however, with Downfall (Der Untergang) which saw the effort nabbing multiple accolades during awards season as well as an Academy Award nomination for best foreign film. But before the star studded razzmatazz the filmmaker was hesitant on whether he should take on the assignment when Eichinger presented him with the completed script since he considered the idea of Nazism as a taboo subject.
Bruno Ganz was reluctant to take the lead role
Swiss actor Bruno Ganz has had a prolific career in Germany in the stage, small screen and film production for more than six decades. His past collaborations include filmmakers such as Francis Ford Coppola, Werner Herzog and Wim Wenders earning widespread recognition in efforts like The American Friend, Nosferatu the Vampyr and Wings of Desire. Ganz received a renewed fame for his critically acclaimed performance as Adolf Hitler in Downfall.
Ganz was initially somewhat reluctant to take the part but later believed the role had a fascinating side that he could explore. The actor conducted four months of intense research and studied the only recording of Hitler in private conversation with Finnish Field Marshal Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim in order to accurately mimic the Fuhrer’s conversational voice and unique Austrian dialect. Noting the resting tremor of Hitler, Ganz concluded that the he suffered from Parkinson’s Disease and event spent time studying patients with the same affliction.
Painstaking efforts were taken to recreate the Fuhrerbunker accurately
A vast majority of Downfall takes place in the Führerbunker which became the Nazi operation center during the latter stages of the war and Hirschbiegel put in a considerable effort to accurately reconstruct the air raid shelter that housed Adolf Hitler. The Führerbunker and Hitler’s Wolf’s Lair were constructed from scratch at Bavaria Studios in Munich under the supervision of production designer Bernd Lepe. The filmmaker also went to great lengths to reconstruct and capture the atmosphere and look of World War II with the assistance of eyewitness accounts, memoirs written by survivors and various other historical sources. Hirschbiegel shot the film in Berlin, Munich and certain portions in the Saint Petersburg industrial district along the Obvodny Canal.
There was only one CGI shot in the entire movie
A great deal of time and effort went into constructing the elaborate sets for the movie and they were meant to be as accurate as possible to their former historical counterparts. However, there was one structure he knew he’d not be able to reconstruct using practically built sets and that was the Reich Chancellery. So, in order to accomplish this impossible feat Hirschbiegel used CGI to digitally create the damaged Reich Chancellery for the film, and that was the only CGI used in the entire effort and that’s certainly saying something.
Oliver Hirschbiegel found solace in J.S Bach’s music
To say the backdrop in which the story of Downfall transpires is depressing would be an understatement. The last stages of the World War II from the context was one of much suffering and death and capturing that bleak atmosphere and dark aesthetics certainly exacted a toll on its director. Therefore, to counteract the depressing atmosphere surrounding the production of his film Hirschbiegel listened to some soothing classical music in the form of Johann Sebastian Bach while working on set.
About those unexpected yet hilarious YouTube parodies
Since its release two decades ago clips from the movie have been used in countless parodies that appeared on YouTube in which one scene in particular – where Adolf Hitler yells at his subordinates in the Führerbunker – has got re-subtitled to evoke the scene with a more comedic tone. The first such video that was released was “Hitler gets banned from Xbox Live;” other subjects include: the Nashville’s gas crisis of 2008, changes to Epcot at Walt Disney World, the delay of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince’s release, fan disappointment over the first Avatar trailer and the “Balloon Boy” hoax of October 2009.
At one point Constantin Film, who own the rights to Downfall, started to take down these uploaded content but that didn’t dissuade content creators from making new ones. As of August 2019, the most well-known creator of the parodies, “Hitler Rants Parodies”, continues to have an extensive presence on YouTube, with new material ranging from light-hearted comedy to sharp political satire.
Box-office success and rave reviews
Made on a budget of $16 million Downfall went on to rake in a respectable $92 million at the worldwide box office. The movie also made quite the impression on film critics with review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes giving a score of 90% based on 141 review as of writing with the consensus reading, “Downfall is an illuminating, thoughtful and detailed account of Hitler’s last days.”
Lead actor Bruno Ganz’s performance was singled out by many a critic with David Denby of The New Yorker saying that the actor “made the dictator into a plausible human being”. Chicago Sun-Times critic Roger Ebert said the film didn’t provide an adequate portrayal of Hitler’s actions, because he felt no film could, and that no response would be sufficient. Ebert added that Hitler was, in reality, “the focus for a spontaneous uprising by many of the German people, fueled by racism, xenophobia, grandiosity and fear”.
Downfall nabbed a nomination for Best Foreign Language Film at the 77th Academy Awards but sadly lost to Alejandro Amenábar’s The Sea Inside. The effort won the 2005 BBC Four World Cinema competition and was also ranked number 48 in Empire magazine’s “The 100 Best Films of World Cinema” in the year 2010.
Humanizing a monster & multi-faceted legacy
Downfall gave audiences an uncompromising look at the final days of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime. The effort won both high-praise and stern criticism for its attempt of humanizing Hitler, but one thing is certain, Bruno Ganz’s take on the Fuhrer was a complex, multi-layered and nuanced performance that would stay with you long after the credits rolled. Ganz’s portrayal of Hitler sparked considerable debate upon the film’s release as it sought to humanize the character depicting him as a flawed human being as opposed to a monstrous caricature. Whilst some film critics and historians applauded this attempt others felt it evoked undue sympathy for an individual who was responsible for the Holocaust.
Downfall also served as a major inspiration for future movies and TV shows and how such efforts should tackle controversial historical figures and similarly sensitive subject matter. Overall, Downfall is a poignant and thought provoking effort that explores the horrors of war and how such circumstances shape the lives of individuals caught in its unfortunate crossfire. The effort also functions as a template on how to craft an engrossing film centered around divisive historical figures and making them more relatable to a broader audience through compelling performances and excellent storytelling.
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Hasitha Fernando is a part-time medical practitioner and full-time cinephile. Follow him on Twitter via @DoctorCinephile for regular updates on the world of entertainment.
