(Review originally written at 29 April 2005)
This is a movie that was made with lots of profession, both in front and behind the camera.
Without doubt the best thing about the movie is the portrayal of Hitler by Bruno Ganz. The fact that he even didn't at least got an Oscar nomination should be considered a criminal offense. The rest of the cast is also top-class, the best acting I've ever seen in a German movie.
The movie is emotional touching but without making Hitler a sympathetic character. There are some really powerful moments in this which I'm not going to spoil, it's simply just something you've to experience.
In most movies and documentaries Hitler is simply portrayed as a mad monster. In this movie we get to know him in his humane form and makes us realize that he really was just a man after all. In a way it makes it all even scarier, if he was just a man than why is there a reason to believe that all of this can't ever happen again? Movies like this should work as a warning for the future for the entire world.
The atmosphere and cinematography work all very well and make the movie really powerful.
Only real complaint is that it focuses too much on some of the events outside of the bunker. It focuses a bit too much on some needless plot lines and characters, especially in the first halve of the movie. The scene's all work very well and are made with lots of profession but they just seemed out of place. In my opinion it would had been better for the movie if it had only focused on the events inside the bunker and create a claustrophobic atmosphere with the sound of dropping bombs in the distance. A kind of "Das Boot" atmosphere, if you like.
156 minutes of great cinema, that flies by.
8/10
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