Made in 2004 ,Der Untergang is based on the memoirs of Nazi secretary Traudl Junge who told her story in the compelling doc Blind Spot , Downfall begins with Junge arriving at the bunker.
Claustrophobic, tense and often riveting, Downfall traps us in Hitler’s bunker during the final days of the Third Reich. As the allies advance on Berlin and the Fuhrer’s empire crumbles ,lead actor Bruno Ganz (seen recently in "Wings of Desire" at Access Art)gives the dictator a human face as he struggles with the onset of Parkinson’s disease and prepares to take his own life.
Controversial in its native Germany , Oliver Hirschbiegel’s meticulous film is no shock fest, but a living, breathing historical recreation of Hitler’s Downfall.
Ganz, who studied Parkinson’s patients to play the ailing Fuhrer, gives a captivating performance .raging one minute , then kindly the next, he’s definitely a monster(but a human one)which makes him all the more terrifying.
"Downfall" premiered at Toronto Film festival in 2004, and was one of this year’s Oscar nominees for best foreign Film. It has inspired much debate about the nature of the Hitler it presents. Is it a mistake to see him. After all, not as a monster standing outside the human race , but as just another human being??
Date: Sept. 1 ,2005
Time: 8:00 pm
Place: Access Art Gallery
